First Day Exploring Paris

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Today was our first full day in Paris. We headed up to Ile de la Cite this morning and were awestruck by the vastness and beauty of Notre Dame, not to mention amazed by the feat of its construction during the 12th century. Since it was Sunday and masses were going on, we got to hear the organ and choral singing, as well. We opted to wait in the hour long line to climb the tower, but multi-tasked and bought lunch at the conveniently placed creperie across the street and ate it in line. The boys managed to get in a bit of souvenir shopping--also across the street--while we held the places in line. The wait was completely worth it, both for the views of Paris and for the up close and personal views of the gargoyles and chimeras, and getting to pop inside the one of the towers and see the bell.

After quick visit to the memorial to the French Holocaust victims behind Notre Dame, we ducked into the "archaeological crypt" exhibit to avoid the rain--yes, it has followed us here, as well! This turned out to be a display of the actual ruins discovered under the current Notre Dame vicinity, dating back to the Gauls and Romans, as well as exhibits explaining the unearthing and interpreting of the city wall fragments, houses, roads, etc. Quite interesting!

Onward to Sainte Chapelle, and another hour long line caused by the necessity for security searches (like at the airport) because the church is actually located in the midst of the current French Supreme Court buildings. The wait was worth it--the stained glass does take your breath away... Also fortuitously, while waiting in line we saw posters for a concert to be held in the church that night--Vivaldi's Four Seasons--and decided to be uncharacteristically spontaneous and buy tickets. (The boys were going to opt out, but the ticket seller was so adamant that they have the experience that he told them he'd give us the "buy one/get one free" deal, especially for them!)

We began the long walk back to our apartment via Saint Germain Blvd to take in the sights there and happened upon the neighborhood where our friends from SLO, the Porczaks, stayed during their recent trips to Paris. Looking up, I saw the Cafe Conti, their neighborhood hangout and internet cafe, along with the cafe's mascot dog, who was plopped on the edge of the street in front of the cafe, watching the world go by!

The concert was wonderful, and the setting enhanced the music. The boys survived, and actually liked it a bit. On our way to find someplace to have dinner, we found ourselves in the same St Germaine neighborhood we'd walked through earlier. This time as we walked by the Cafe Conti, we looked up to see Kay Porczak's sister and brother-in-law, Dede and Jed Bruington, sitting in the cafe, writing THEIR blog. We knew they were here, but hadn't had a chance to connect yet. After a light dinner served by a friendly (really!) waiter at the Cafe Bonaparte, just down the square from the more famous (and more pretentious) Cafe Deux Maggots, the boys headed off to hang out with Henry and Annie Bruington and another friend, Julia Uyttewall, also from SLO, who is spending the summer here.

The major disappointment in Paris so far has been our apartment. It's a long story, but we are certain we are not even in the apartment we reserved, yet we haven't been able to connect with the owner of the building to straighten things out. He seemed like a lovely fellow (actually an American from Oregon) when we met him here upon our arrival, but although things didn't seem quite like I'd pictured, I didn't realize until after he left that neither the photos from the website, nor the description of the place, match the reality. It's definitely missing the promised balcony I was so looking forward to. And the boys have to sleep on a couple of foam mattresses on the floor--no pull-out couch as described. We think we're actually supposed to be one floor up, which we can see from the street does have the balcony. Add to that the incredible traffic noise (the bldg is on the corner with a main street, which doesn't appear to quiet down until about 3:00 AM), noise from the restaurant across the street, and the fact that most appliances seem not to be working (including the much needed dryer, which I discovered only after I had washed a load of clothes). We don't expect to be able to move into the apartment we think should be ours--we can definitely hear that there are people occupying it--but the whole unresolved situation and ripped off feeling has unfortunately clouded our Paris experience, much as we are trying not to let it.

Tomorrow we head to Versailles, hoping to escape the craziness of Bastille Day, until the evening, when we hope to get a chance to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower from one of the boats that cruise the Seine.

We'll keep you updated, as time allows.

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Photos

Especially for the Porczak Family
We can't remember the Cafe Conti dog's name, but we remembered he was a major figure in your Paris blog.