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Thursday, June 28, 2001
We both slept fairly well. However, in order to keep the temperature down, we had to leave the windows at least partly open. We had kept the drapes shut, but that kept the air from circulating quite as well. We woke up at 4 am hearing a loud conversation outside on the street. I sort of dozed until 6:45, then gave up and got up.
We walked down one of the main streets near us and found an open bakery and picked up some pastries for breakfast. We took them back to the room to eat while we plotted out our day.
This time, we headed down a street that changed its name at least three times before reaching the Place de la Bastille. We turned off about a block from the Place to go to the Place de Vosques. It’s supposed to be the most perfect square in Paris. There are 9 townhouses on each side of the square and they are joined by some really lovely arcades.
There’s a garden in the center of this area. It was closed, however. They were filling it with pots of lavender! It was a salute to Provence! We circled the square and took some pictures through the fence. A man came over and told us that it would be open to the public at 10. Well, it was then 9:45 and we had to meet the rest of the gang in the lobby at 10.
These three photos were taken on our morning walk and are all of Place de Vosques. The photo on the left shows a lamppost and some of the townhouses that line the square. The center photo shows the lavender salute to Provence in the Square Louis XIII, which is in the center of this square. The photo on the right shows some of the arcade this square is noted for.
We took a different street back to the hotel and arrived in plenty of time to rearrange the camera bags again before leaving for the day.
Our first group stop was at the local Metro station where we purchased 5-day tourist passes. We could have used four day ones, but they only had one, three, and five day passes. They would come in handy in the next few days.
We took the Metro to the Place de la Bastille, near where Deb and I had walked that morning. We wound up doing a lot of walking this day. The photo on the left is a statue in the center of the Place de la Bastille.
Near the Place de la Bastille, we saw where the canals come into the city (photo on the right). In fact, they run under the Place de la Bastille. There’s supposed to be some interesting canal trips available, for those who don’t mind the dark.
We walked down the Rue de Henri IV from the Place de la Bastille and onto the Pont Henri IV, where there’s a very good view of the flying buttresses of Notre Dame.
The left and center photos above show the rear facade of the Notre Dame Cathedral from the Pont Henri IV. The rear flying buttresses are the main attraction from this angle. The photo on the right shows a painter who was working from one of the other bridges in this area.
After admiring this view, we walked along the riverside of the Ile St. Louis to another bridge that would take us onto the Ile de la Citie. There, we spent some time shooting the front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The photo on the left shows the main facade of the building.
The photo on the right shows the main Rose Window from the outside.
We had a pleasant day today - temperature about 78F, light breeze, puffy clouds. Fortunately, we remembered to use the sunblock before leaving the hotel!
The photo on the left shows one of the many tourist boats that ply the Seine as it approaches the rear of Notre Dame. The center photo shows another tourist boat on the other side of the Ile de la Cite. The photo on the right shows one of the many, many bridges that cross the Seine.
At this end of the Ile de la Citie is a monument (left) to those deported from France during World War II. Most wound up in German concentration camps. They embarked on their journey from this point It’s a very stark monument, mostly underground. We walked down into it, but I soon came back up. It’s extremely depressing and I started feeling claustrophobic.
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We crossed a bridge near here to the left bank of the Seine and continued down the quay. In fact, we dropped to riverside and walked under the Pont Neuf.
These three photos could have easily been taken somewhere along this stretch of the river. (I'm writing this 18 years later and some of my notes are incomplete...) The photo on the left shows a sailboat moored on the banks of the Seine. The center photo was taken from one of the bridges and shows how the Seine splits for the Ile de la Citie. A tourist boat is starting to pass under the bridge in the corner of this photo. The photo on the right shows one of the many very narrow streets in this section of Paris.
The photo on the left shows a statue on the Pont Neuf. The center photo shows a detail of one of the many faces that decorate the Pont Neuf. The photo on the right shows a view of the Louvre from across the Seine.
Some time today, we passed by the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) again. The photo on the left shows the fountains that are on one side of the front lawn. The center photo shows the roofline and the nice clouds in the sky. The photo on the right shows some windowboxes and hanging baskets at a shop somewhere in town.
Somewhere along in there, we stopped for lunch. I had a hot ham and cheese sandwich and a glass of wine.
We crossed the Seine again over the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge over the Seine. This placed us at one end of the Louvre. This building is huge! It took us quite a while to walk from one end of it to the other. We didn’t go inside this day - that would come later. This was just walking through the outside courtyards of the place. The pyramid entrance and fountains were interesting, as were the old statues and such around the grounds. At the far end was the Arc de Triomphe du Carousal, the smaller of the two Arc de Triomphes in the city.
The three photos above were taken as we walked through part of the Louvre. The photo on the left shows the front facade of the Louvre - the side that faces one of the streets. The center photo shows our group passing through an arch with the glass pyramid entrance in the background. The photo on the right shows the fountains near the base of the glass pyramid entrance and some of the people wandering around the area.
The photo on the left above shows the horseshoe shape of the Louvre building with its glass pyramid entrance. The center photo shows another view of this same area from a wider angle. The photo on the right is a closer view of the Petit Arc de Triomphe.
This placed us at the east end of the Tuileries Garden. We walked the full length of these gardens. At the west end is a large ferris wheel. It was put up a couple of years ago as part of some celebration. At the end of the year contract, the city told the owner to take it down. He told them, no, if you want it down, you’ll have to remove it yourself. Well, the city didn’t own a crane large enough to safely take down the ferris wheel, so it’s still there. Or so the story goes....
The photo on the left is the ferris wheel. So is the one on the right - this one just happened to line up nicely with a statue. It tickled my funnybone...
We soon reached the Place de la Concorde and our first good view of the Eiffel Tower. There’s an Egyptian obelisk in the middle of this Place that Napoleon swiped many years ago. It’s too bad there was so much construction going on in this area. It might be a good one to come back to, if I ever make it back to Paris.
The photo on the left shows this obelisk, Cleopatra's Needle, and the Eiffel Tower with traffic and construction cranes. The center photo shows the Obelisk from the other side with building behind it. The photo on the right is a garden planted in a traffic island near the Champs Elysee.
Then a quick pass by the front of the American Embassy and we were off down the length of the Champs Elysees. This was a nice walk and we saw a lot of local life.
At the far end, of course, was the Arc de Triomphe. There’s a very large traffic circle circling the Arc, making it impossible for pedestrians to get there by crossing the street. Instead, they have an underground tunnel that goes under traffic and comes up inside the Arc. In the tunnel you can buy a ticket to ride the elevator to the top. However, the line for this was almost as long as the tunnel, so we passed on this view. Instead, we opted for the street level view.
It’s quite an impressive monument. There are statues on all sides and even the underside of the arches are decorated. There’s a perpetual flame burning in the exact center of the Arc.
These three photos show the Arc de Triomphe. The photo on the left shows the Arc from a distance, as we approached along the Champs Elysee. The center photo shows some of the carvings under the arch itself. The photo on the right shows some of the decorative work that adorned one of the legs.
After spending some time here, we went back through the tunnel to the Champs Elysees. Here the group broke up for the day. Some returned to the hotel. Some returned to sites we had seen during our walk (it was now 5 pm - we left the hotel seven hours earlier).
Deb and I headed for the Metro station and took the Metro back to Ile de la Citie. We were headed for Ste. Chappelle. We were there in plenty of time. It’s situated inside the Palias du Justice, which is one of the police stations. As a result, you have to pass through a security check to get to it. This is the same as passing through the security areas at the airports - pass through a metal detector while your bag goes through an x-ray machine.
It’s worth going back there, however. This is a lovely little chapel. It was build exclusively for the royal family and their household. The lower level was for the commoners, while the upper was for the royalty. The colors used here are spectacular. Unfortunately, the pictures I tried to take here are on the roll of film that I lost! Upstairs there are a series of stained glass windows that are quite unlike any I’ve seen before. There are thirteen of them - six on each side and one behind the altar. Each extends from about head level up to the roof, which soars some 40 feet above. Even the colors in the floor are fascinating.
The only thing they could have done to improve it would be to demolish the Palias du Justice so that the sun could reach all the windows and so that the exterior architecture could be seen. Some of the walls were just two feet from the higher walls of the Justice building.
These three photos show some of the detail work decorating the Ste Chapelle. The photo on the left is one of the pillars. The center photo shows a panel detailing Noah's Ark. The photo on the right depicts the Garden of Eden.
After leaving this area, we walked back to Notre Dame and took pictures of the front with blue skies and puffy clouds behind it. Then we stopped and picked up some postcards and took the Metro back to the hotel.
As we passed the Taverne on the corner, we spotted Sol and both Judys eating dinner. They invited us to join them, but they were already ordering and we wanted to clean up a bit before eating. So we thanked them and continued on to the hotel.
There we made reservations for a side trip on Saturday. Judy Taylor will join us for this excursion. We’ll take a bus to Giverny for the afternoon.
After cleaning up, we walked over to an Italian place just down the street for dinner. We had the veal scalloped special with cheese and spinach, a side of spaghetti, and wine. Fortunately, we both ordered the same thing, which made it easy for the waiter to split the bill. They don’t seem to understand the concept of separate checks in France. Instead, they would take the order as one large order, then they were willing to split it up again at the end of the meal. It meant remembering exactly what you had to eat so that, at the end, you could repeat it again and pay for it!
After eating, we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night. We also spent some time mapping out just how we’d spend our free time for the remainder of the trip so that we could hit as many of the must see places as possible. It looks like we can do it!
Bill had invited us to join him and Adam that evening for an evening shoot at the Louvre or the next morning for a dawn shoot of Notre Dame - leaving the hotel at 5:30 the next morning. He seemed disappointed when we declined. We were starting to run out of energy!
Carl called me about 9:30 (3:30 pm his time) this evening to tell me how Kelly had done that day. This was the day she had her exploratory surgery. I had thought about her several times during the day. She’s doing fine and the preliminary indications are extremely good. It was such good news that it kept me awake for a while longer. I had a hard time settling back down.