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Saturday, June 30, 2001
It was another hot night. We left the windows wide open, but there was no breeze at all. And this also let in the noise from the partying Indians. We finally gave up and got up at 5:15.
We met Judy Taylor in the lobby at 6. We were going to see what the morning light does for Notre Dame. Bill had told us that they were able to get some decent reflections from the Turrelle bridge. I’m not sure how, however. The river current dispels most of the reflections. He told us to get there before 7, when the river traffic starts up.
My allergies were giving me fits this morning, also. Sneeze, sneeze, sneeze!
We took the Metro to the stop nearest this bridge, then waited. We took a bunch of pictures, but the reflections were just so-so. Too much river current.
The photo on the left shows the rear facade of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and the little bit of reflection we were able to capture.
The photo on the right is a slightly different angle of the rear facade of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris with the early morning clouds just catching the first light of day.
Our next planned stop was the Flower Market on Ile de la Citie. It’s supposed to be the only remaining flower market in the city. It wasn’t what we expected. It was a couple of rows of shops that had plants in common, but it was more like a small string of nurseries than my idea of a flower market. We kept walking around and around it, hoping something would change. No luck.
So, we found a patisserie and got breakfast.
This would turn out to be a morning of disappointments. We had planned three things for the morning, Notre Dame reflections, the flower market, and climbing the towers of Notre Dame. The reflections were a disappointment. The flower market wasn’t what we expected. And Notre Dame was closed! They were having a major ordination this day and the cathedral was closed to the general public. Open only to those with special invitations.
So we settled in to watch some of the festivities. They were ordaining 17 new priests. There were chairs set up on the square in front of the cathedral for the overflow crowd. And big screen televisions allowed those outside to see what was going on inside. The bells pealed continuously in celebration. The choir was magnificent. And we watched the processional assemble. They were lined up the length of the square, with the cardinals bringing up the rear. It was quite a sight. The photo to the left captures some of the flavor.
After they disappeared into the cathedral, we headed back to the hotel (this is the Metro stop we got on for the ride back) so I could get more kleenex and take an antihistamine. That helped tremendously, as did a short nap. We then walked around the corner to a café (that was also a tobacco shop!) for sandwiches. Ham and cheese again - what a surprise!
Then we joined up with Judy again. A van picked us up just outside the hotel and took us to the building where we would get on the bus for Giverny. It was a wild ride across town in that van. The driver kept fiddling with the air conditioner and nearly wrecked a couple of times. The rest of the time, he was driving recklessly.
We paid for our tickets and got on the bus. It was a regular tour bus and it would take us to Giverny, Monet’s house and gardens, which is located about 80 minutes from the center of Parix. It was a pleasant drive, even though I did doze off..... As I was getting off the bus, I managed to ram my right knee into the door frame, causing a quick stab of pain to shoot up my leg. No permanent damage, just hard to walk for a while.
The gardens are just gorgeous. The waterlily pond is quite extensive. The gardens had been neglected after Monet’s death until someone rebuilt them to his original plans. Lots of different flowers in complementary beds. The only problem with the place was the number of people there. Ours was but one of a dozen tour buses there. In addition, the regular parking lot was also full. As a result, most of my pictures there have people in them.
The photo on the left shows some of one of the water lily ponds with a parade of people running through the middle of the photo. The second photo shows more of a water lily pond with trees reflected in it. The third photo shows a fuchsia growing in the gardens near the edge of a pond. The photo on the far right shows another portion of a water lily pond.
The photo on the left shows another view of the extensive waterlily ponds. The other two photos show closer views of some of the waterlilies that were in bloom.
The photo on the left shows a lily blooming in the garden. The center photo is another view of the extensive waterlily ponds. The photo on the right shows part of the garden that isn't part of a waterlily pond.
Once away from the waterlily ponds, the scenery changed. These three photos show some of the rest of the extensive gardens with the many paths wandering through them. Some of them had arched trellises over the paths.
This path was closed to the general public.
We spent about an hour and a half there before boarding the bus for the trip back to the agency. This took almost two hours, since it was early evening by then. Traffic was horrendous! And the bus driver acted like he was driving a small car. At one point, Judy opened her eyes long enough to look out the window and see the passenger in the car next to us reach out and lay her hand on the side of the bus. We were that close!
Back at the agency, we were told that we would have about a half hour wait for the ride back to the hotel. We took off for the Metro. For one thing, we just wanted to stretch our legs again. For another, we weren’t really up for another long sit in traffic just to get a ride back to the hotel! The Metro was also crowded, but at least it was moving.
We cleaned up a bit and had dinner at Pizza Pino, which is a chain in Paris. I had the grilled salmon with spaghetti, wine, and fraises melba (strawberries, ice cream, and whipped cream - yum!) Deb had a pizza and Judy had another dish. I’m glad I didn’t order one of the pizzas with an egg - several on the menu included an egg. One was served at a table near us. It had a fried egg plopped in the middle of the pizza!!!
Back to the hotel to cool off the room - the maids keep closing the windows! We actually have a bit of a breeze tonight.