Sacre Coeur, Paris

The Sacre-Couer or Sacred Heart is a huge Catholic church in the North of the city centre. It was started in 1873 as the Catholic church sought to atone for what they perceived as the crimes of the Commune, what better way to atone than by constructing a gigantic white-domed basilica? It has been designed in a Neo-Byzantine style by the architect responsible, Paul Abadie, and apparently was described as an 'abberration of taste' by a group of artists and intellectuals.

Entry is free provided you don't take pictures, you remain silent and you dress decently (this means covering shoulders for the ladies). To get to the entry however, you will need to climb 237 steps. It is worth pausing to enjoy the view before going into the building, almost as high as the Eiffel Tower you get incredible views right across the city. There are also telescopes for landmark spotting and a host of people selling useless objects.

Once inside I was impressed at the splendour, the church is hugely colourful and at the far end features a huge relief of Jesus and the Saints sporting Byzantine halos. Looking more closely you may spot St. Bernard, he is the one with the dog at his feet. The stained glass windows are strange, they contrast because during the war the building was bombed and the windows had to be replaced, consequently they are mostly modern designs.

The central area has some seats and in front a special area for those who wanted to sit, according to the sign, in SILENT PRAYER or ADORATION. All around the sides of the church are shrines to various saints and the Virgin Mary (how polytheistic). You could, if you wanted to waste money, buy candles to light at your favourite shrine, they ranged from small at 10 francs, medium at 20 francs and large at 50 francs. The place is strangely peaceful, in that churchy way, and the architecture is impressive, if a little garish. I was most suprised by the obvious piety and religious fervour of many of the others in the church, bowing at altars, praying to Jesus and generally looking spiritual. It was at this point that I began to feel weirdly guilty about my atheism, however the shrill ring of the cash register in the church souvenir shop brought me back to earth.

Although the church is impressive, gold and mosiac reliefs, statues, the architecture designed to draw your eyes heavenward, there was also the all too obvious cheesy moneymaking aspect. The shop sold a bunch of souvenirs, little statues which could serve as saintly action figures, horrible pictures of Jesus dying over and over again. It seemed out of place but not as much as the medallion machine where you could purchase a souvenir medallion for 10 francs (£1), surely sacriligious and certainly tacky.

The church is worth having a wander around because it is free but I would be more tempted to visit for the view and the artists square just round the corner, where you can get yourself painted or charicatured by talented artists. It may cost up to £40 for a portrait so watch a few of them in action and pick one you think is talented.

The Sacre-Couer is an interesting place and tends to be fairly busy, if you can't face the steps there is a big chair lift thing up part of the way. However there is no disabled access and plenty of stairs leading in and out of the church as well. Should keep you amused for an hour or two even if you are an atheist.