Notre Dame and the Historic Paris Walk

Mon March 16, 2009
Well we started our day at the wonderful cathedral of Notre Dame, wow quite the dominating presence! The photos don’t do it justice I’ll tell you that. In the left doorway there is a statue of St Denis holding his own severed head… sick. Over the central doorway is a scene of an angel and a demon weighing souls. The demon pushes on the scale to make it heavier sending the soul to hell, nice guy eh? While it didn’t seem too busy outside it was pretty tight packed inside. We walked all throughout loving the stained glass windows especially the rose windows. We admired the workmanship and realism in the windows before wandering back out into the square and around the left hand side of the building. We craned our necks to see the most photographic gargoyle in Paris. Very Hunchback of Notre Dame. Then we headed around back to gain a full appreciation of the flying buttresses which make the physics of the whole building possible. There was also a nice little park so we sat and mapped out the next stop. I love Rick Steves. For those of you who don’t watch his TV show and haven’t seen his books, he is the travel guru for Europe. He tells you where to go, what to do, how to prioritize, the inexpensive way to travel as well as providing walks such as the “Historic Paris Walk” which we are on today!
Stop number two was the famous ‘Shakespeare and Co.’ bookstore. The original store was founded in the 1920’s and this one looks the part. Tiny aisles are lined floor to ceiling with second-hand book. I love that smell. There were some great old versions of Shakespeare plays and the classics. They also give free accommodations to struggling writers above the store. The founder was Sylvia Beach who published James Joyce’s Ulysses cool huh?
We turned the corner to find St. Severin Church and didn’t go in but passed by it leading us into the Latin Quarter. Delicious smells and food all around- my kind of place but we didn’t stop. We arrived at the busy intersection of Boulevard St Michel and Blvd St Germain. St Michel is the centre of the bohemian, liberal core of Paris. This is where Parisians have fought against the royalists, Nazis and de Gaulle government. I think its kinda comparable to the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
We walked up the boulevard to the Luxembourg Gardens where we basked in the sun with the real Parisians. We enjoyed the break after our long walk but decided to head onto the Pantheon. Rome’s is better. At least I think so. I think Paris’ is too fancy and Rome’s is older which usually trumps everything. It is still a beautiful building though. We didn’t go inside but walked all the way around before heading back down the boulevard. I spotted a Starbucks and we went in to have some drinks while writing about our day in our journals.
We hopped on the metro and headed back to the hotel where we had a nap and relaxed while trying to figure out where to eat- thanks again Rick Steves. We settled on a place within walking distance in Montmartre. It had a beautiful view into the park around Sacre Coeur. We sat on the windowed terrace in this brightly decorated restaurant. We both order the same thing: quiche with bacon, ham, two cheeses that I cant remember and a side salad. I was pretty stoked for the salad (I haven’t had one since I left Canada!). It was a delicious meal and after words we climbed the steps of Sacre Coeur to see the view over Paris at night: gorgeous of course. We headed back to our hotel and watched The Boondock Saints in light of St Patricks Day before falling asleep.

EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Notre Dame's stunning architecture which is unlike any I have ever seen.