Paris, Day 1 Part 1

We arrived in France at 6:15 am Saturday morning. We collected our bags and took the Metro to our first hotel, The Royal Cardinal, near Notre Dame. We actually came out of the Metro right at Notre Dame, and that is the first photo. The decorated tree was a nice touch.

We couldn't check in that early of course, so we left our bags and went back to Notre Dame. By then it was light out, so the pictures got better. :)

Here we are at The Seine, in front of us is Ile de la Cite, one of the two islands in Central Paris. The building with the spire is Notre Dame, seen from the opposite side of the last photo. The island also houses the oldest working hospital in Paris. On the right side of the photo is the other island, called Ile de St. Louis. These islands temporarily split The Seine in two.

We decided our first excursion would be into Notre Dame. And like most of the churches, it was free! This is a shot from outside.

Behind the altar are multiple small chapels. Some of them are used for confessions, some for special events and some are more informational for us tourists. On one side we found this Nativity scene, one of many we would see on our various church visits. In all of them the mangers are empty, waiting to be filled by baby Jesus on Christmas Eve.

Incidentally, my Auntie Sandra Jane and cousin Kirsten were here when Grandma Viv went into the hospital in July, and they told me candles were lit for her here. It was sad, and beautiful to be in the church and think of her.

One of a few beautiful stained glass windows.

We wanted to climb the North Tower of Notre Dame, but the first tour didn't start for awhile, so we popped across the street for cafe au lait and crepes. Our waiter was SUPER French, like quintessentially French, from his clothes down to his puffed out chest. Here was where we learned our first French lesson. We knew the dollar wasn't worth much, but we had two espressos, one cappucino and a cafe au lait along with two crepes and a pastry with chocolate for only 50 euro. That's like $75. We did the math after we left and were waiting in line for the tower climb. YOWSA.

These are all views from atop Notre Dame. The sign said pregnant women shouldn't climb it, being as there are no lifts for the 388 steps, but I braved it. It got a little scary, but mostly because I'm clausterphobic and the spiral stairwell got tight near the top. Thank goodness for the small, narrow windows all along the tube or it may have been panic attack city. The top of the church is decorated with all kinds of statues. Many gargoyles, a few people statues and even one elephant head. The views were truly spectacular. Karl was able to point many of the other landmarks we would be visiting as well. His knowledge of the city made visiting it that much better, especially when he went into History Teacher Mode. Some of you may know what I'm talking about. :)

When we left Notre Dame this guy was putting on a puppet show, basically a song plays (in english, surprisingly) and he moves the puppet to sing and play the guitar along with it. He was pretty good.

The Ehresmann's alongside the Notre Dame. More to come!!