Eiffel For Paris

SIXTY AND GETTING YOUNGER

Friday was my first day of being sixty and I had something to prove. We got in line early and climbed the 400 steps up to the top of the tower of Notre Dame. Just like Quasimodo and Esmeralda but with a happier ending and lots more photos. The effort to get to the top rewarded us with great panoramas of the city and a gargoyle’s-eye view of Paris. 

Inside Notre Dame

Gargoyles atop Notre Dame

Notre Dame Cathedral stained glass window

 By the time we arrived at the bottom, we still had not quite earned our morning pastry so we walked over to the St. Chapelle also located on the Ile St Cite.

The floor to ceiling stained glass windows here are magnificent examples of 13^th century glass now undergoing the long and detailed process of restoration.

St. Chapelle

Walking around Paris we are taken by the number of patisseries and the smells of freshly baked bread and pastries. There are small dogs obediently walking off leash, and street musicians everywhere. On the Metro there are consistently the sounds of accordion, trumpet or guitar players; these musicians will play a few numbers and then come around with a cup in case anybody would like to contribute. There are bands in the streets, and street performers at every monument. The Metro is easy to get around on and the stations have wonderful art nouveau ornamentation. 

Art Nouveau Metro Entrance

We made our way home for a siesta via our local island church, the Eglise Saint Louis en L'ile:

As sunset approached, we headed toward the Eiffel Tower. We circumambulated the great edifice before finding a grassy picnic area in the Parc du Champ de Mars and waited for the tower to light up as dusk fell. The familiar shape formed by the steel girders became transformed into a giant Christmas tree. At 10 pm dancing white lights blinked on and off all over the great landmark.

We walked along one of the great boulevards to the Arc deTriomphe. From this huge arch in the middle of a sprawling roundabout radiate the broad avenues designed by Baron Haussmann for Napoleon in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The most famous of these is, of course, the Champs Elysees. 

Arc de Triomphe