Tuesday, October 17, 2017

A Full Day in Paris: The Rue Cler, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, a Boat Ride on the Seine and Dinner at Chartier


Tuesday, October 17, 2017:

What a great day to be alive with friends roaming the rues of Paris!

But as usual, every morning on this trip starts by . . .

. . . writing the previous
day's blog entry

Blog entry finished, we embarked with Loren and Sandy Brucker again on the latest chapter of our EuroAdventure.

What would be more fitting
than a ride on the Paris Metro?

 At the nearby Metro stop
to start our tourist day

Eager tourists

Be patient Sandy, the
Eiffel Tower is our second stop 

First up was this cool little
shopping street, the Rue Cler

 Lots of produce today

Mushrooms of all types
for sale

RIPE tomatoes

Lunch was ready

But we were more in need of
coffee and croissants

More mushrooms

Meat market

The croissants were flaky and
buttery while the cappuccino
was PERFECT!

 And even more mushrooms

Fruits are good for you

Happy travelers on a
random Parisian street corner

Sandy liked the looks of
this apartment building

 This was the spot where Sandy
got her first glimpse at one of the
world's most iconic sights,
The Eiffel Tower

Sandy and Loren found it

Over 50 years of friendship
captured here

Of course Paris has musicians

Perhaps you needed another
photo of the Eiffel Tower
for your collection

Or another

 I was born in 1947
It's the Thug Life for me then

 An amazing structure

At this point, Team California split up.

As all first time visitors to Paris must, Loren and Sandy needed to take the elevator up to the Eiffel Tower's viewing platform to marvel at the incredible vistas of the City of Lights from high above.

Two magnificent Parisian sights

Laurie and I sat this one out and relaxed in the surrounding area while the Bruckers ascended the Eiffel Tower.

The French LOVE carousels

This one was close by and
offered us lots of people
watching opportunities

Reunited, we all headed over to the Latin Quarter.

Impressive

 We had just eaten a solid, light
lunch when we found this spot

 Sandy and another iconic
Paris sight

I bought a copy of
Ernest Hemingway's
"A Moveable Feast"

It seemed like the right thing to do.

We then headed across . . .

. . . the Seine River to . . .

. . . Notre Dame Cathedral

It was the joy of writer
Victor Hugo's Parisian soul

 Charlemagne
First Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire

These are GREAT beards and mustaches on display here!

 Inside Notre Dame

 Baptismal Fount

Old Biblical Scenes

These were often used in days gone by to illustrate to the illiterate key parts of the Bible.

Powerful Statues

Classic Rose Window

Majestic

Laurie's favorite saint
Theresa of Avila

 Vaulted Ceilings

Cutting edge confessional
in an 800+ year old Cathedral

St. Joan of Arc

Voted "Toughest French Woman of All-Time" by Paris Match.

 Black Jesus

And then the organ played

St. Denis
Patron Saint of Paris

Third from the left, he was the first Bishop of Paris and was beheaded in circa 258 A.D. in the Montmartre neighborhood. 

He is seen here holding his head in his hands. The story is that his decapitate corpse was carried with his head in his hands to an area northeast of Paris where the Benedictine abbey of St. Denis was founded.

Over the course of the years, the much better story is that he, even though decapitated, he carried his own head himself out to the site of the abbey.

Statue of Pope John Paul II

Notre Dame's Flying Buttresses

My ninth grade World Civilizations teacher at St. Francis High School, Father John the Baptist, made this structure come alive to me back in 1961-62.

GREAT TEACHER!

 The back side of Notre Dame
from across the Seine River

And we continued to walk to a . . .

. . . Nice pedestrian only bridge
over the Seine River . . .

. . . Where these two love birds
added a lock to the bridge to
cement their relationship

Just after this touching moment we boarded a boat to cruise the Seine.

The Pont Neuf

This is the spot where our son Michael proposed marriage to Vanessa.

She said "OUI!"

"N" is for Napoleon

Copper Bridge

Notre Dame as seen from the Seine

It was time to reunite with our other friends for dinner at a classic Parisian dining spot . . .

. . . Chartier

 The foie gras was
OUTSTANDING!

As was the company

The bill for the eight of us
was quite reasonable

Poster in our bedroom

A Trip to the Moon.  This poster is from the 1902 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès based on the works of Jules Verne.

It was a FULL day!

I'll bet you that Wednesday will be too.

Stay tuned . . .

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