Slept in after a late night at the Moulin Rouge. Cindy had yet to see the Louvre so we decided to go there for the afternoon which may not have been the smartest choice but we had some time constraints (leaving on Tuesday morning). I say not the smartest because there's a saying in Paris -- "If it's raining, go to a museum" -- and it was raining as heavy as it has since I arrived.
Splashing through the puddles, and huddling under the small umbrella I brought, we were off. Took the Metro with no problem, switched trains with ease, but do you think I could find the underground entry from the Metro into the Louvre -- of course not! In my defense, every Metro stop seems to have four to six different exits (usually unmarked) that sometimes surface blocks apart and when you get off at a large Metro station like the Louvre, there are probably twenty different exits out of the rabbit warren.
So off we went into the rain and the lines outside waiting to get in -- not terribly efficient but the up-side -- snuggling in the rain under an umbrella in a beautiful setting in Paris -- turns out there are some things worth getting a little damp for!
Spent two to three hours wandering around the Louvre -- we patiently stood in the mob scene to see the Mona Lisa -- lovely, but still think it's quite over-rated. Having spent a number of hours in the museum a few weeks ago, I already knew my way around which meant we were able to see quite a lot in a relatively short period of time. Stopped at a Brasserie for something to eat and sat watching people walk by in the light rainfall. Then back to the apartment and early to bed to try and catch-up on some sleep.
Monday was the day we reserved for seeing the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris (I say "de Paris" because every town and hamlet in France has at least one church named Notre Dame, with three to four more of them in Paris itself.) There are two separate attractions at Notre Dame -- the Cathedral and the Bell Towers -- the Cathedral is free admission and the towers charge. Somewhat surprising, the longer lines were for the towers -- a few weeks ago when I walked past, there were huge lines for both attractions.
The construction of Notre Dame actually began in the 1160's and the building has been modified a number of times over the centuries. During the French Revolution, the church because of its close relationship with the King, came into the crosshairs of the revolutionaries. Notre Dame was severely vandalized with the mobs apparently trying to destroy the whole place. It was looted, statues destroyed, windows broken, bells melted down, etc.... After things settled down, it was used by the revolutionary government as a Temple of Reason and then as a warehouse.
In the 1830's-1840's, there was a serious effort to tear it down completely and if it hadn't been immortalized in Victor Hugo's novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", it probably wouldn't be standing today. It underwent extensive rennovations between 1845 -1864 with new bells cast and installed, a huge plaza created in front and the structure returned to its original appearance.
The twin bell towers were added to an earlier strucutre around 1250 and served as the setting for Quasimodo's obsession with the lovely Esmeralda -- who can forget the image of the mob chasing him through the streets and his escape by climbing up the side of the church to the bell towers above. (Spoiler Alert: There's no way he could have scaled the building, the first forty to fifty feet are pretty smooth-sided and after that it's still really questionable if there would be enough handholds.)
The "bell tower tour" consists of handing over your admission fee and being directed to start walking up a narrow stone spiral staircase -- four hundred steps later (assuming you make it) you're part-way, looking over the rooftops of Paris. At this point, you get a break and those with a fear of heights get a "thrill" -- the stairs are one-way only (up) until you get to the base of the bell towers where the route takes a slight detour -- out onto the original stone gutters surrounding the bell tower bases -- sixteen inches wide with only some nylon webbing and a couple of pieces of iron railing between you and having a close encounter with the plaza below.
Once you transit the gutters you're back onto the structure itself where you immediately come eye to eye with fantastical stone gargoyles protruding from the sides of the building and lining the stone walkway between the two towers. This is a chance to catch your breath -- not everyone should try climbing 400 steps -- and for some reason, they don't have a defibulator available, even though some people looked like they might be needing it!
Just off to the side of the walkway, if you feel like scrunching through a 3'x3', 14" deep trap-door like opening in the south bell tower wall you can get up-close-and-personal with Emmanuel, the Cathedral's largest bell and the only one surviving from the 1600's -- thirty tons and a 500kg clapper.
Cross the walkway and you're back out onto another section of bell tower gutters to reach the main entrance to the south bell tower -- at this point, you get to make a choice -- call it a day and descend down the stone spiral staircase to the exit -- or -- continue climbing another thirty yards up the staircase until you reach the roof of the bell tower with even better views of Paris and the structure itself.
Because it's a narrow walkway on top (the tower dome takes up most of the space), they limit the number of people on the roof at any given time, but it's well worth making the climb! Gorgeous views and an appreciation for how really big this church structure is.
Then it's straight down the stairase another five to six hundred steps to the exit (for those of you who have been on one of these staircases you know what I mean when I say that if you trip and fall, next stop is ground level.) An amazing experience! (I have to admit though, I avoided doing the climb in the preceeding weeks worrying how my knees would do -- turned-out that for some reason, that day I could almost have kept-up with the fourteen year-olds going up and down -- would do it again in a heartbeat!
That evening we spent time downloading the photos that Cindy had taken on to my computer so I could post them on the journal/blog. She took almost all of the photos for the past ten days and did a much better job than I ever could have -- if you appreciate the photos, thank her when you see her!
Saw Cindy off at the airport Tuesday morning -- we were even brave enough to take mass transit (Metro & bus) to the airport. Went back to the apartment and started on catching-up on posting photos and journal entries.
These past few days confirmed what I already knew, sharing amazing experiences with another person makes those experiences all the more amazing!
