Although we had toured the Conciergerie, the prison attached to the Palais de Justice, I didn't want to leave Paris without standing and considering this courtyard. During the Revolution, once the executions began, every day the tumbrel(s) would roll into the courtyard. The condemned would leave the prison via the gate on the right and get into the tumbrel to be taken to their execution. The futility of objection, a sense of pride and, probably, the fact that they were in shock, kept them, for the most part, from resisting. The offices and courtrooms of the Palais de Justice are still in use today.
Although we had toured the Conciergerie, the prison attached to the Palais de Justice, I didn't want to leave Paris without standing and considering this courtyard. During the Revolution, once the executions began, every day the tumbrel(s) would roll into the courtyard. The condemned would leave the prison via the gate on the right and get into the tumbrel to be taken to their execution. The futility of objection, a sense of pride and, probably, the fact that they were in shock, kept them, for the most part, from resisting. The offices and courtrooms of the Palais de Justice are still in use today.
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