Fall Break for the Geezers - October 28 (Paris!)

Notre Dame!
Sainte-Chapelle!
Eiffel Tower!
We geezers are going to have a big day today.  Fueling ourselves up with a great breakfast at our hotel - the croissants and pain au chocolat especially - will be a big help.  
Yesterday we bought the 10 ticket (each) passes that would allow us to take the train or bus to any location in the city.  Again, confusing to maneuver the transfers, but doable. Our first destination was 
Notre Dame. As it was Sunday, we hoped to be able to attend part of the church service here.
Long entry lines prevented this, but we did get in the queue to see the cathedral interiors while the service was underway.









Hearing the postlude on our way out was a highlight of the day. (If you are my Facebook friend, I posted a video of that experience.)
I am so so fond of the flying buttresses here!
Then we walked over to nearby Sainte-Chapelle. Built originally between 1242 and 1248,
King Louis IX wished for this Chapel to house religious relics from the time of Constantinople.
Particularly interesting is the building of two sanctuaries one on top the other.


Here's a view of the Lower Chapel:

Here's a view of the Upper Chapel:
 The stained glass windows - with 1,113 scenes from the Bible are the standouts of this chapel.
You can tell they are highly photographed!

Now, back to Notre Dame to go on a walking tour...Anne and Jed had highly recommended the
Discovery Walk tours where you meet at a certain place and take a free tour. Donations are given to the guide at the end of the walk as a way of showing the "amount" of appreciation you had for the tour. This particular tour was called The Secrets of Notre Dame.  Our group met by the big horse carrying Charlemagne.




Here's our guide in her hot pink tour-guide vest. We did learn many interesting secrets about the construction of Notre Dame... but I'm not telling them here!

Of all the crazy things we geezers did today was going out to eat fish and chips for lunch at a big department store much like the downtown Chicago Macy's!

The store (LeBHV Marais) was decked out for Christmas and Mary Poppins was the theme.
By the tree, one couldn't help but notice the model next to the tree.
The rhyme, I see London, I see France, came to mind!

Still on the go, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower.  We planned to get the most out of our time slot (5:00 pm) by seeing Paris from the tower both by daylight and as night-time lights came on.
What we DID NOT count on was how very very chilly and windy it would be.





Ooo-La-La!


These are the daylight snaps.
Below are the night time snaps.




And now I understand better why Paris has the nickname "City of Lights."

 Today's step/mileage app recorded 7.8 miles and 22 floors.
But the thrill level for being in Paris is off the charts! 

 

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