We Save the Day - Fabulous Day 31

Today was supposed to be the Louvre, however, when we brushed up on today's plan last evening, we realized that we picked the one day that the Louvre is closed to go visit it!  Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, what to do?  Oh, well, there's lots of stuff that we haven't done yet so lets get out there!

First we head down to our local marche (little hyphen over the e means market) and discover, yet again, a wonderful market taking place so, of course, we shop and get several nice things for the girls. Then we have our jambon and fromages omelets (ham and cheese) and duex cafe americano's sil vous plait!

The flowers in the markets are just incredible.....and cheap!

Rugs and scarves...

...hats and leather goods...

....fish and dogs!

Fabulous fruits and berries and vegetables

 So we start our walk over to Notre Dame to, finally, go into the church and walk up the stairs.

A lovely fountain on the way.

It's so cavernous inside Notre Dame you just can't take pictures......and, you are not supposed to use flash which, of course, we obey.  In fact most people obey that rule except a lot of Asians.  What's up with that?

Gordon inspects the entry doors into Notre Dame which rival some of the huge cathedral doors we have seen in Spain.

Carvings at the front of Notre Dame.

Then we venture outside and line up to make the climb to the top of the towers.  400 steps!

We see the line and almost say "non" to waiting but decide to go for it.  While waiting, we witness these young females tearing down the road on foot while being chased by a female bicycle cop.  The cop finally catches the one she wants by the sweater and both the girl and the cop go down.  She rips apart the girls backpack to cheering crowds and tears up some papers the young woman has.  Shortly before that, a young woman stopped Gordon and tried to get him to sign something.  The girl was pointing to a handicapped picture on her paper.  Apparently these groups of girls are pick-pocketers.    They lure you into signing and while you are occupied they snatch something from you.  We think what the female police officer was tearing up was the papers the girls were trying to have signed.  Another male officer showed up to assist the female and basically they let the girls go.  What would they do with all the young people in town who try to pick-pocket?  Arrest them?  The prisons would be full.

Here's a trendy French style!  Some men here, heterosexual and gay men alike, wear cheeky little scarves and almost all men carry "man-bags".  I like the man-bag idea.....Gordon says he has a car and no need for a man-bag.  Gift idea for Christmas!?!

So that was entertaining.  But an hour and one-half into the wait we were wondering if we were doing the right thing....then, we finally got in.  400 stairs later and we arrive at the top for.......spectacular views and gargoyles galore!  So many interesting, funny, mean, and vicious gargoyles.

 

But the best part was, it was 11:45am and time for the bells to ring.  "The bells, the bells!" The first film is, well, the first film I took.......

......but as we hung around on top a little the bells starting ringing in earnest.   So pardon this little movie, I was being rushed from behind and it's a bit jumpy, but if you close your eyes and listen you can be right there with us.  Honestly, this had to be the reason that we waited so long to get in!  I had tears in my eyes listening to the bells right behind my head and viewing the City from on high.  How marvelous!  AND how lucky are we?  I thanked God right then and there that I had the resources to be here and the strength to get me up to have this spectacular experience.  Listen:

A couple of gargoyles right here!

Then we go to see the great bell called "Emmanuel".  It weighs more than 13 tons!  I think this is the one Quasimodo, from Victor Hugo's famous novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, used to ride!

Gordon actually touches the 17th century great bell.

Vicky....check me out!  400 stairs up 69 meters high!  Thinking of you!

Montmartre....where we visited yesterday seen high on the far hill.

What a glorious City!

As we come out the "sortie" from the spiral staircase we pause to look up to where we climbed.  I confess I'm a bit dizzy because the staircase was spiral!

 After our climb to Notre Dame I wanted to have a look at the Galleries Lafayette, THE shopping mecca here in Paris so we board the Metro and come out here:

The Opera House from street level!

 And shop here:

A petite ballet shop we popped in to find a little something for Alison just outside the Opera House.

 And arrive here, Galleries Lafayette!  Check out this dome!

Then we walk to Place Vendome where all the chi-chi shops are:  Piaget, Cartier, Dior, etc, etc and The Ritz which everyone now knows is where Princess Diana spent her last night on earth.  The column in the center of the square was re-erected in 1874 but was originally erected by Napoleon.  It depicts battle scenes and is made out of cannon taken from the armies of Europe.

 Then we cross the avenue and into the solitude and peace of the Tuileries Jardens for a much needed r&r!

Fall is approaching.

Ah! Gordon goes for a panini to munch on and I put my feet up and stare across at the peaceful, beautiful vista.

Panini man approaches!

Panini man relaxes too!  We both catch a little snooze.

The lovely and huge garden is similar to Luxembourg gardens in that the space is very broad and open and scattered with comfortable metal chairs to relax in.  There seem to always be chairs available even though this is a city of thousands.  And everyone is considerate of each other.  As Gordon and I approached these two chaise-style chairs another gentleman was approaching too, but as he looked at us and discovered we were two, he motioned graciously for us to take the chairs.  Another nice Frenchmen!

 We decided to go visit the Musee D'orsay and as we starting walking  we saw the Louvre and thought we'd head there first.  In one direction is the Lourve but when you look behind you, you see the Arc de Triomph and the "needle" in Place de la Concorde all the way along the Champs Elysees.  Amazing!

The Arc in the far distance.

The Louvre in the far distance the other way!

More Jardens along the way.

.....and a lovely big fountain with movable seating for anyone to enjoy.

Ah, here's that model person again from yesterday!  hmmmmmm

Approaching the Louvre....

What a great shot eh?

Again, we are exhausted and head back to our "hood" to grab a bottle of water, a couple of apples and rest  up for the rest of the day.  We are currently having our feet up and enjoying a glass of Beaujolais.  Tonight I think we are back up the Rue Soufflot to try to find more mussels and frites!  It was SO delicious yesterday and one of the food items I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and on my list of "must eat while in Paris".  Gordon loves them too!

I wonder what we'll get into tonight?

Tomorrow, definitely the Louvre before we leave this beautiful, magical, romantic and delightfully interesting City.