Opening Our Eyes to Paris
July 15th, 2015
Our first view of Notre Dame
Holocaust Memorial
We woke up tired but excited to check out more of Paris! We wandered around a bit near the islands of Paris and found our way to Notre Dame. The line was too long so we decided to do another walking tour of the historic area. We explored the outside of Notre Dame, St. Chapelle, and the Conciergerie (the old prison) and visited their Holocaust Memorial which was tucked away on one of the islands. We also walked by Shakespeare and Company, where many authors had their starts (at a previous address) and learned that the apartments upstairs continue to be rented at a low cost to writers today.
We stayed on the island for a bit and found a shady spot to relax and take in the city. Sander had previously mentioned to us that his favorite church is in Paris, St. Sulpice, because it has great windows and a huge organ. We walked to it from the river and walked through it a bit. We were both surprised at how large it was and found out it is the second largest church in Paris (after Notre Dame). The organ was huge and Chuck enjoyed recalling scenes from The DaVinci Code as we walked through.
Shakespeare and Company
We took an evening river tour boat on the Siene and enjoyed seeing the city light up as the sun went down. We then walked through the city a bit to check it out at night, and were a little surprised at how lively it is even during the middle of the week! All along the edges of the river and in all parks were groups of people with wine and baguettes enjoying the beautiful weather and views. We went to the Lourve and were disappointed to see the fountains dry but still enjoyed seeing the pyramid all lit up. We also found the church steps from the movie Midnight In Paris, where Gil first gets taken back in time. We headed back to get some sleep as we wanted an early start at the Louvre before the crowds arrived.
The Louvre lights up the night
