Tuesday, March 16: You Have No Idea What You Missed, Drew!

18,977 Steps   1546 Aerobic Steps   817 Calories Burned   32.3 Fat Grams Burned   7.77 Miles Walked

This is a long post so grab something to drink and enjoy.  Seven a.m. comes early for me, so early that I forgo breakfast for a pack of nabs while putting on my make- up.  Debbie and Natalie go to breakfast then come back to get me.

Our group meets in the lobby sans Drew who has a migrane headache.  Dianne opts to stay with him, along with Kelly, who is a cousin-in-law to Drew by marriage and who also is a nurse.

Our fearless leader Rolando lays the ground rules for the day, and we head for the subway station across the street.  After climbing stairs and going down stairs, riding the people mover, and changing trains several times, we come out above ground to cross to the Ile de la Cite to visit Notre Dame Cathedral.  The day is beautiful and the area around Notre Dame is alive with people who are there to do the same thing we are: to find Quasimodo and Esmeralda.  Well, not really; they died in the story, but it's fun to pretend.

Anyway, we take a few pictures outside the cathedral, including one at the 0 degree mark from which the miles measured from Paris begin.  We take in the architecture of the building, including the famous rose stained glass windows, and even take extra note of the gargoyle that appears to be bored with all the visitors by peering down and resting his head in his hands.  We also tour the inside looking at all the beautiful windows through which the morning sun shines.  Several of us gather outside, Andy and Karen Daniels with their girls Anna and Elizabeth, Robert and Lisa Sledge and their girls Meredith and Lauren, Natalie, Debbie, and myself, and walk around observing the flying buttresses we learned about in junior high history.

 FYI: Notre Dame was one of the first churches built after Constantine recognized Christanity as a new religion in 313 A.D.  The building was once known as Notre-Dame de Paris, meaning it was the official church of the entire diocese of Paris, then Notre-Dame de la France, but is now a cathedral church of the city.  The church has undergone several additions and remodeling.  It is one of the best known examples of Gothic architecture along with the Dumo in Milan, Italy (which I have been fortunate to see also).  One of the most recognizable parts of the cathedral is the eastern end of the church (chevet) that is bordered by the famous flying buttresses.  In 1793, during the French Revolution, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The statues of biblical kings of Judah (erroneously thought to be kings of France) were beheaded. Many of the heads were found during a 1977 excavation nearby. In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, it was feared that German bombers could destroy the windows; as a result, on 11 September 1939, they were removed, and then restored at the end of the war.  There are five bells at Notre Dame. The great bell, Emmanuel, is located in the South Tower and the other four bells are in the North Tower. These bells are rung for various services and festivals.  In the night of August 24, 1944, as the Ile de la Cite was taken by an advance column of French and Allied troops and elements of the Resistance, it was the tolling of the Emmanuel that announced to the city that its liberation was under way.  (some from Wikipedia)Class dismissed!

Walking up to Notre Dame-- I thought it would be larger and more foreboding.

The west facade

The  rose window

0 degree marker ( Debbie and I have another picture like this but in Madrid, Spain.)

Another of the rose windows from the inside

The chevet

DK, Natalie, and Debbie

At this point we decide to try to find the Jewish Memorial that honors the deportment of the Paris Jews in 1945.  Several of us had read a book entitled Sarah's Key and were so touched by the story of the French Jews in Paris that we wanted to see the memorial that was mentioned in the book and knew it was close to Notre Dame.  Well, to our amazement, the memorial was just across the street behind Notre Dame.  The memorial touched us as much as the book had.

The wall at the entrance of the memorial

Listing of some of the concentration camps on one of the walls

The Jewish motto "Forgive; Never Forget"

After spending time at the memorial we walk along the street back to the front of Notre Dame, and I make the most wonderful discovery--the French crepe.   I order my first one of the trip with sugar and butter.  WOW!  This for sure will not be my last crepe of the trip.  The thing so great about French crepes is that there is always a place on the street to buy one, filled with a variety of ingredients.

Our group gathers again to walk to Sainte-Chapelle.  FYI:  Sainte-Chapelle was built by Louis IX as part of the original  palace on the Ile de la Cite.  The chapel was built with two levels, the lower for worship by the soldiers and servants and the upper for the king and his entourage and guests.  However, part of the recongnition of this chapel is due to it's  housing of  religious relics purchased by Louis, the Crown of Thorns worn by Christ and a fragment of the True Cross.  They were housed in a reliquary guilded with gold, silver, and copper.  They were brought out in 1248 on Good Friday and have been done so since then.  During the French Revolution, the reliquary and the relics were melted down.  The Crown of Thorns had been earlier deposited in 1793 in the cabinet of Antiques and later given to the archbishop of Paris in 1804.  Each Good Friday and the Friday before Lent, the Crown of Thorns is display at Notre Dame in a reliquary designed in the 19th century.

The other distinguishing feature of the building is the stained glass windows in the upper floor chapel, along with a rose window on the west send.  There are 110,013 panels in the windows of which two-thirds are original.  These windows depict the Bibical stories of  both the old and new testaments. We were disappointed that some restoration work was being done on the altar area so that area was blocked off.  But, that did not take away from the beauty of the windows.  Also, we were excited to be returning there later in the week for a concert of Vivaldi music. Class dismissed!

Ceiling of the lower chapel

Statue of Saint Louis in the lower chapel

Rear window in the rear part of the upper chapel flanked by some of the windows

We meet again with Rolando and he gives us our options for eating lunch and time we are to  meet.  Debbie and Natalie and I eat at an outdoor restaurant and share pizza.  The time is wonderful and we enjoy the rest.

We meet our group at the Musee d'Orsay, which use to be the tratin station on the Ile de la Cite.  In 1980 the station was turned into a museum to display many of the impressionist artists, along with sculptures, and art deco furniture.  I mark a few more painting off my list:  Renoir's The Swing and Dance at Le Molin de la Gallette; Cezanne's Still Life with Apples and Oranges; Monet's Poppies Blooming; Manet's The Balcony; Millet's The Gleaners; Van Gough's Starry Night over the Rhone (not the original Starry Night) and Rest from Work.

Naturally, I have been left by my group since I am so slow, but I meet them later at the restaurant,  Get this:  I relax with a view of the River Seine while I drink cafe au lait, discussing works of art I have just seen. What a life!!!  I think that it was definetly worth every essay I ever had to grade to be able to retire and to afford, somewhat,  to travel to see and experience some of the things I have in the last three years of travel.

We meet our group outside the museum and decide on the means we are going to get back to the hotel.  Some take the subway, others a taxi.  Well, those of us with wanna-be tour guide Debbie decide to walk back to the hotel.  So glad we did.  We walk through Tuileries Gardens, stroll the fashion street of haute couture (can't remember the name), stop at the Ritz, and walk through Le Printemps and Lafayette Gallery.

Group pic in Tuileries Garden--Andy, Susan, Debbie, Paula, Anna, Megan Kay, Lauren, Lelah ,Lisa, and Meredith 

We get back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.  I have the pleasure of sharing dinner with Ann and Dean and Elyette. I was introduced to a wonderful drink courtesy of John, Kir Royale.  It is made with champange and creme de cassis.  Very nice.  So nice that I had two.  We also had a cheese tart with salad, roasted chicken and potatoes, and apple tart for dessert.  One of the funniest lines of the trip came from Dean.  We had walked a really long way during the day, and the chicken was ok, nothing to rave about.  Dean quipped, "This sure was a long way to walk for a chicken dinner."  Ann added, "I think I would have even told Moses 'No' if he had said we were walking as far as we did today."  I guess I was tired and punchy because these two lines struck me as so funny. 

Guess what! We are not through yet!  We gather to prepare to visit the Arc de Triomphe.  We ride the subway yet again, something  to which we are beginning to become quiet accustomed.  The Arc is beautiful bathed in spotlights.  Since the round-about around the Arc is so busy, we have to cross under the street to get to the site.   Several of us climb the 284 steps to the top to view all of Paris again at night.  In the words of Jane Fonda, "Can you feel the burn?"  Dang straight I can!  But the view is wonderful and the landscape is closer and more distinguishable this evening than from the Eiffel Tower.  My pictures did not turn out well at all.

FYI:  "The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside and the top of the arc there are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Underneath is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I . . . . The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806 . . . Since the end of its construction, the Arc de Triomphe has become the rallying point of the French troops parading after successful military campaigns or for the Bastille Day Military Parade. Famous victory marches past or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1918, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944 and 1945. A United States postage stamp from 1945 shows the Arc in the background as victorious American troops march down the Champs-Élysées and U.S. airplanes fly overhead" (Wikipedia).

Eternal Flame

Night View of the Le Champs E'lysees from top of the Arc

After about an hour at the Arc, we gather one more time for our subway ride back to the hotel.  We make it back around 10:30 pm.  I take my bath, prepare for the next day, and fall in bed exhausted.

Note;  Three years ago when I had the chance to travel to Italy in March I swore we walked at leat 75 miles.  I really had no documentation to prove my statement, so Laura gave me a super duper pedometer for Mother's Day in May following the trip. The next spring I forgot to take it to Spain, and so I made sure to take it with me this time.  I did not record the pace the previous days, but when I looked at the pedometer when Iwas making my notes in my journal, I almost fell off the bed.  Those are the numbers you see posted at the beginning of this post.  I will post them for the rest of the posts.