Chapelle Expiatoire
The Basics
Though the famed couple are now laid to rest at the Saint Denis Basilica, the altar in Chapelle Expiatoire crypt marks the precise place from which the couple was exhumed. Enter this landmark, along with dozens more of the city’s top attractions (such as the monarch’s former palace home at Versailles) for free with a Paris Museum Pass or Paris Pass. Passes also allow you to skip-the-line at must-see places such as the Louvre Museum and Centre Pompidou. Passes come in 2-6-day versions and include unlimited public transportation on select services, and free sightseeing tours such as hop-on hop-off buses and a cruise along the Seine.
Things to Know Before You Go
- Chapelle Expiatoire is an ideal monument for French history buffs.
- Adult admission is about US$7 for adults; entry is free if you have a Paris Museum Pass or Paris Pass, which is the unlimited version of the pass.
- Every other Thursday, the chapel offers free guided tours in French, English, and Spanish.
Trip ideas
How to Get There
Chapelle Expiatoire is located along Rue Pasquier in Paris’s 8th arrondissement and is surrounded by Métro stations (Saint-Augustin, Gare St Lazare, Havre-Caumartin, and Madeleine) serviced by the 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 lines. Bus lines 32, 43,49, 84 and 94 also make stops nearby.
When to Get There
Chapelle Expiatoire is open Tuesday through Saturday (October to March) and Thursday through Saturday (April through September). From 12:30pm to 1:30pm, the monument is closed for lunch. Come in the early mornings or early evenings, when you’ll most likely have the chapel to yourself.
Grand and Petit Trianon at Versailles Palace
Enhance your experience at Chapelle Expiatoire by making a trip to Versailles, the palace of Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette. Within the grounds, don’t miss Grand Trianon, the king’s getaway from the pressures of court life. Petit Trianon was the domain of his young wife where she created a surreal recreation of a French village, and famously guarded her privacy within the lush confines of her “moving mirror room,” where an ingenious set of mobile wood panels kept the world at bay.