Attending Church Service in Paris

Go for the gusto and hike all the way to Notre Dame. If you were in Rome on Easter, where would you go? And, apropos of nothing, Paris has other places to stay besides Rue Rick.

If you are an organ music enthusiast, consider St. Sulpice in the 6th arr. It is famous for its pipe organ and organist Daniel Roth. This website will tell you the dates he will be there. www.stsulpice.com/Docs/concerts.html

First of all, if you still have time to do so, transfer your hotel reservation from Rue Cler to the Hotel Hospitel, next door to Notre Dame. This is one of the sites recommended by RS in his Paris Guide and is much more convenient to practically everything than the Rue Cler area, which I found vastly overrated. Staying at the Hotel Hospitel will make it much easier to attend services at Notre Dame. The services are open to all Catholics, and attending Saturday/Sunday Mass three times during our visit last March was one of the most memorable travel experiences ever for my wife. As for times, if you are staying next door, that is not an issue.

Notre Dame would be my top choice. Mass at Notre Dame is open to everyone, not just Catholics, as Roy wrote.

Here's their website http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/-English-

Errr... most any church will let protestants, jews, muslims, etc attend mass. As will any temple..... as will any mosque.

I am not Catholic, but my wife is. I was referring to communion. Anyone may attend the service, the same as at home.

There are quite a few Mosques that forbid non-Muslims from entering.

Michael, it seems to me from the mosques I have visited in Egypt, Turkey and the Middle East that non-muslims are welcome except during prayers.

Darn, I thought that guy at the door was a greeter or a deacon or something. Had no idea he was the bouncer. Sure glad I still have my fake muslim ID card.

When I visited Cairo back in 1991 the central Mosque did not permit non-Muslims to enter...even when prayer wasn't going on. Two years ago I was in the Muslim quarter of Xian China, and there was a large sign in English at the entrance of the Mosque: "Non-Muslims not permitted beyond this point".....regardless if there was prayer or not.

I was in that same mosque in Cairo 3 years ago, Michael.

Notre Dame could use a bouncer. Some tourists ignore the service but make it hard for the worshippers to ignore them.

I attended a Sunday service at St Sulpice in October 09. It was lovely; the organ music was the best. There was a small choir and parishioners also sang hymns. There was a musical director and 7 priests. It was quite fascinating.

I would definately recommend St Sulpice. After the church service I had a great lunch in the area and roamed through the Luxemburg Gardens which was filled with families enjoying the Sunday. I also highly recommend wandering through Luxemburg Gardens on the weekend to see Parisians enjoying their city.

Happy Travels

First of all, attending church is a great experience. I've attended St. Sulpice morning service - the music is good, but the church is not heated all that well. If going over the winter be sure to be prepared to sit in a cold building. It was still a great experience though. Also would suggest going to Sacre Coeur. They have services in the evening on Sunday that are wonderful and the evening view is terrific.

A sampling of the organ at Notre Dame:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxVO3EoCRM