Our first stop was the Notre Dame. It is truly an amazing sight. We happened to walk up 'on the hour' so we were able to hear those wonderful bells chime. I couldn't believe I was actually standing in front of this church. One thing I noticed right away, they were cleaning the exterior of the church - luckily, they were done with the front facade and the main bulk of work was being done on the sides. The stones on the front were obviously 'whiter' than the rest of the building.
I wouldn't wait to get inside. Luckily with our Museum Passes, we were able to walk right in. Right away you see signs everywhere that say "No photos", but everyone else was taking pictures - so I did too. I tried to not be too obvious about it, and I did turn the flash off the camera.
Everything I've heard about the Rose Window is true. It's stunningly beautiful. It was muggy outside, so I don't think we saw the full effect of the light coming through the stained glass, but it was still an amazing sight. It's massive - and the colors, wow!
When inside the church, you basically walk in a U shaped line around the perimeter of the interior. There are many small chapels on the sides. We were lucky that we got through one section of the cathedral before they closed it off and a small procession of priests and other members of the church walked in a line towards the center of the building - where they performed a small mass for the locals. I say lucky, because we were able to walk through the entire church. A few minutes late and we wouldn't be able to get through one section.
Anyway, after walking through the whole church and then sitting to admire everything for a few minutes, we headed outside - crossed the Seine and walked along the water to look at the rest of the outside of this magnificent building. For some reason, if felt that it was smaller than what I had built it up to be in my mind. Nonetheless, it was still fabulous.
After a quick lunch in the Latin Quarter (I forgot the name of the place - something with Crepe in it) we headed over to see La Conciergerie. It was the final "holding" place of Marie Antoinette before she was executed, as well as many other of Paris' unlucky. I believe over 2000 or 3000 people who were beheaded in the city spent their last days in this building.
The main hall of La Conciergerie is amazing, but the rest was, well, like a dungeon or prison. The room in which Marie Antoinette spent her last days was converted into a small memorial for the Queen in the chapel. There is a 'recreation' of what the room may have looked like in one of the upstairs cells. Not much to show here except for the main room downstairs. They were showing a history of Paris exhibit so, the picture only shows part of the massive room - without the picture panels.
After La Conciergerie, walked a short distance to the Sainte-Chappelle. I didn't know what to expect, but everyone I've spoken to about Paris always highly recommends it - and now it's my turn. Anyone who goes to Paris MUST see this church! It doesn't look like much from the outside, or even the downstairs entry area. But walk up the narrow winding staircase on a sunny day, and it will take your breath away. WOW! The windows are 49 feet tall, 15 panes of windows. Incredible.
As if we weren't insane enough - we decided that we still had half a day left and took the Metro to the Musee D'Orsay. This building used to be a train station.
I only managed to get a few shots in before my camera ran out of batteries. Unbelievable. Yes, it's my fault. I forgot to charge it after all those hours at the Louvre the day before. I did manage to get pictures of some of my favorite paintings before it fully died. So, no Van Gogh unfortunately.
It's not so much getting a picture of the painting, but more of keeping a memory that I actually was able to see these in real life. Things that I've studied only in slides and books - I was standing in front of the real thing. Fabulous.
So, that was it for day three in Paris. Next up... part 2 of the Louvre. The sculptures.
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