Notre Dame

We go to Notre Dame in time for the lines to be short and for the beginning of Mass. The singing is very nice.
The reason why Notre Dame is still around today is because it was saved from demolition due to the popularity of Victor Hugo's "The hunchback of Notre Dame".

Notre Dame

Interior of Notre Dame

Interior of Notre Dame

Rooftop of Notre Dame

Left Bank

Pompidou is closed today so we'll do it later this week. Went though the Île de la Cité and across the river to the Left Bank.  Right at the riverside are plenty of street vendors selling old books and illustrations. We pick up some prints for the house and walk along the river. We look at some options for cruising the Seine and decide on more research.

Loretta has her portrait done by a vendor in pencil on one of the riverside quays. It is extremely well done. Fred noticed that he started at one corner and worked his way to the other corner. He tells Loretta stories in his soft French-toned voice that is hard to make out over the bustling noise of the city

Basilique Sacré-Cœur

We take the Metro to Basilique Sacré-Cœur in the Montmartre neighborhood and climb the dome. It is a wonderful view from this high peak across the city of Paris. It started building in 1875 and completed in 1914/dedicated after WWI in 1919. The interior is a little plain (compared to St. Eustache) but the embellishments on the outside make up for it. There has been continuous prayer for 125 years, as a consecrated Host is on display above the altar.

We come back to our neighborhood and have lunch at a café, after bypassing the Les Halles station. Fred hates Les Halles and forbids further usage of this station. It is overly complicated and the signage is not what it should be.

Barge on Seine

 We have dinner at Namiki. It is interesting to see that most of the clientele are Asian, which we take as a positive sign that the food is authentic. And it was, since dinner was very good.

St. Eustache

We have breakfast in the apartment. Nice loaf of bread obtained by Fred before I even woke up! Ah, we have Nespresso coffee, albeit in too-large cups; the "long" setting on the machine doesn't quite seem like it puts out a double cup. It promises to be another sunny mild day.

We stop by St. Eustache, a late Gothic style church which started building in 1532 and took over 90 years. Loretta is working on a theory where the earlier the church was started, the longer it took to complete. The interior is nicely painted in a highly decorative style. One of the churches we visited, probably not this one, had a side chapel dedicated to the deported French citizens of WWII that touched Loretta a little bit. The organ in this church is one of Paris' largest with over 700 pipes. We are sad we won't be there for any recitals.

St. Eustache

St. Eustache interior with prayer chairs