Paris...oh how I love thee. We took a tip from my parents this time around and traded the commercial area of Champs-Elysees for the quaint and very French area of Ile St. Louis. We walked past Notre Dame Cathedral every day. Every. Single. Day. How amazing is that?! Not to mention the amazing restaurants in our area and the evening entertainment sitting on the Pont Saint-Louis.
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| The view from our hotel room. |
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| We passed some love locks...which I have to say, despite making for a cool picture just looks really junky in person and I wish people would stop doing this. |
We spent some time in the Jardin du Luxembourg...
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| I am not a modern art person by any means, but I think this is just calling out to be made into a quilt. |
We visited a mineral museum. I know it doesn't sound terribly exciting, but it was a neat little find and we saw some beautiful stones, rocks, minerals, and textures. It was only after I snapped a few pictures that I noticed the "No photograph" sign, so I stopped, but I couldn't bring myself to delete these couple of beauties.
We also visited the Archealogical dig underneath the square in front of Notre Dame. I sort of wish we had invested in the Audio Tour of this as just what we saw and read was fascinating. This is what France looked like in Ancient Roman times. There were amazing interactive computer screens that took you through various building processes, including the construction of Notre Dame itself.
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| Even the street lamps are beautiful in Paris. |
Since this was our second trip we skipped most of the typical first time touristy things. We just walked passed the Eiffel Tower on our way to dinner one night.
We did a little shopping in the Marais district, and wandered into BHV so I could hit up the Frou-Frou fabric department. :) But, in our adventures to find the fabric department we discovered a hardware store in the basement...which Brian said carried more things than Lowes! Impressive! And we discovered the crafting and office supply departments...oh my...walls and walls of paints, stationary, cards, binders...it was so fun.
Of course the most fun was to be had in the fabric department where I picked up some lovelies.
On this trip we were able to take an English tour of Notre Dame given by a parishioner. The tour is free, but they ask for donations...so if you ever go...please give a nice donation. :) The tour was REALLY fantastic and I'd say on par with the Verger tour at Westminster Abbey. We even got to go up on the alter and if you're Catholic you know what a big deal that is.
These pictures are all from inside the bars blocking the crowd. Yep...you get to be up close and personal.
Before we head inside...let me take this moment to get on my soap box a bit. When in Paris, I like to attend church on Sunday at Notre Dame. Sure it's a tourist spot, but there's something about it that feels truly and deeply spiritual. More so than my contemporary church. During the mass they allow crowds to still tour the place...okay...whatever. The first time I mostly found this irritating during the Liturgy of the Eucharist...people were snapping pictures of this most holy part of the mass and it just upset me. But, I figure...if they're letting people in they're asking for that to happen, and maybe witnessing that will give you the urge to go back to church or even to become Catholic.
But, this time tourists snuck into the service area itself. Were standing up during mass snapping photographs. DURING MASS...IN THE CONGREGATION!!! That is 100% unacceptable. And then after they got their pictures they would get up and leave...say while the priest was reading the Gospel. Seriously. So, when you are a guest in the house of God...please be courteous to those who are worshiping. Stop talking...you're disrupting prayer...even if mass isn't going on. And don't insert yourself into a worship service to snap a few choice shots. It's incredibly disrespectful. And we won't even get into the woman who slapped my arm because she wanted the mass guide that belonged to the man in front of me. :/
We also paid to see the Treasury of Notre Dame. There were some gorgeous monstrances, chalices, and other "Catholic-y" things there. I just wish some of the descriptions had been in English.
Because Paris is largely a Catholic Community...there isn't always a lot open on a Sunday which can be difficult for tourists. This time we happened to be there during the annual Fete de la Musique so it seemed more was open than usual. But, we had planned to spend the day in the Marais which is largely a Jewish community...and is also a big hit with the Gay community as well. It's quite a trendy area.
This is the location of the Bastille. If you're up on your French Revolution history then you know why this site is significant. Apparently you can go in a Metro stop here and see a small Bastille display or museum of some sort. But, I try to avoid spending extra time in Metros when possible. (Although the Metro is absolutely the best way to get around in Paris.)
We saw the museum that WOULD NOT end...Musee de Carnavalet, and then we walked through the Picasso Museum which surprisingly does not contain merely works by Picasso.
Flower markets are a favorite of mine. Although I forgot to hit up the bird market on Sunday. Just another reason to go back. We had blue hydrangeas at our wedding so I'm always on the lookout for them...
We took the hike up to Sacre Coeur since we didn't get to see inside of it last time. I often hear that the inside isn't worth seeing, but I would strongly disagree with that. It was a beautiful church with a very different style of architecture from Notre Dame.
We visited a mineral museum. I know it doesn't sound terribly exciting, but it was a neat little find and we saw some beautiful stones, rocks, minerals, and textures. It was only after I snapped a few pictures that I noticed the "No photograph" sign, so I stopped, but I couldn't bring myself to delete these couple of beauties.
We also visited the Archealogical dig underneath the square in front of Notre Dame. I sort of wish we had invested in the Audio Tour of this as just what we saw and read was fascinating. This is what France looked like in Ancient Roman times. There were amazing interactive computer screens that took you through various building processes, including the construction of Notre Dame itself.
Since this was our second trip we skipped most of the typical first time touristy things. We just walked passed the Eiffel Tower on our way to dinner one night.
We did a little shopping in the Marais district, and wandered into BHV so I could hit up the Frou-Frou fabric department. :) But, in our adventures to find the fabric department we discovered a hardware store in the basement...which Brian said carried more things than Lowes! Impressive! And we discovered the crafting and office supply departments...oh my...walls and walls of paints, stationary, cards, binders...it was so fun.
Of course the most fun was to be had in the fabric department where I picked up some lovelies.
On this trip we were able to take an English tour of Notre Dame given by a parishioner. The tour is free, but they ask for donations...so if you ever go...please give a nice donation. :) The tour was REALLY fantastic and I'd say on par with the Verger tour at Westminster Abbey. We even got to go up on the alter and if you're Catholic you know what a big deal that is.
Before we head inside...let me take this moment to get on my soap box a bit. When in Paris, I like to attend church on Sunday at Notre Dame. Sure it's a tourist spot, but there's something about it that feels truly and deeply spiritual. More so than my contemporary church. During the mass they allow crowds to still tour the place...okay...whatever. The first time I mostly found this irritating during the Liturgy of the Eucharist...people were snapping pictures of this most holy part of the mass and it just upset me. But, I figure...if they're letting people in they're asking for that to happen, and maybe witnessing that will give you the urge to go back to church or even to become Catholic. 
Because Paris is largely a Catholic Community...there isn't always a lot open on a Sunday which can be difficult for tourists. This time we happened to be there during the annual Fete de la Musique so it seemed more was open than usual. But, we had planned to spend the day in the Marais which is largely a Jewish community...and is also a big hit with the Gay community as well. It's quite a trendy area.
