Walking through the archway I featured yesterday, we arrived at this courtyard with the grand entrance to the Palais de Justice, which means courthouse in French. While I knew about Sainte-Chapelle and even visited once before during high school, this French courthouse was new to me. My wife had picked the location as our next tourist spot via a guidebook and YouTube research. I tagged along, enjoying the architecture.

While the courthouse building was probably spectacular inside, this wasn’t our true destination. We were looking for the Conciergerie, the former prison for Paris, located underneath this complex — famous inmates included Marie-Antoinette.

It took some time to find the underground prison, asking several people, some who appeared like police in uniforms. It turns out the entrance was down on the street through a nondescript, almost makeshift structure located on the sidewalk. I’m sure if we knew French, it would’ve been easier. However, I didn’t care much about our efficiency. I viewed almost everything as a photographic opportunity, and making a grand architectural picture like this — even with the vehicles out front — made it worthwhile.

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