Tuesday, July 23, 2013
The five of us hung out together, today, spending the majority of it on the Ile de la Cite - an island in the Seine hosting several important structures, the most famous being Notre Dame.
After admiring the wood work on a cabinet in our hotel lobby, we headed out to Notre Dame - arriving early to beat the worst of the crowds waiting to explore inside and climb up the cathedral tower. I never went into the building on my last visit and it was as spectacular as advertised. It is hard to believe that this type of structure could have been conceived and executed so long ago. The construction of Notre Dame was started in 1163 and completed/consecrated in phases up to its final completion in 1345 - 182 years later. I can't imagine giving one of our prospective clients a time frame like this and not being robustly kicked to the curb.
After touring the inside we joined the line outside waiting to climb the tower - waiting being the key word. But we got there and it was worth every minute. To be up over the city and enjoying the view at the construction details by peaking around gargoyles is a once in a lifetime experience. I even found a secret passage where I could call out Jake's name without him seeing me and messing with his head. We lost track of time on top but, after countless pictures, we returned to the streets below for crepes and gelato.
Our next stop took up just few blocks down the island to St. Chappelle. St. Chappelle, while being constructed in the same period as Notre Dame was, certainly of a different style. St. Chappelle is known for the light provided by the abundance of stained glass. Being much smaller the structure could be much less massive and provide the opportunities for windows. St Chappelle is adjacent to La Conciergerie, the infamous prison that held the nobility destined for the guillotine after the French Revolution. Not too much to see there but interesting, none the less.
Now off the island to tour the enormous and beautiful Luxembourg Gardens where Wayne & I managed to get in trouble for abandoning the group while we perused a display of photography from the 100 runnings of the Tour de France. Hopefully, we made up for it with another fabulous meal; this time at Le Pre Verre, another Rick Steve recommendation and well worth the price. A footnote - the cost of eating well in Paris is probably less that you might expect, after factoring how inexpensive wine is, but the time commitment is the real surprise.You rarely spend less than 2 1/2-3 hours over dinner - and no one seems to notice it passing
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