Well the first full day in Paris and we were off and running. In the metro we made sure to buy 2 day metro passes (so much easier than buying the small 10 ticket packs). We came early to the Notre Dame cathedral prepared to buy the 2 day museum pass as well and found that the counter we bought it at last time was no where to be found. Yikes! Michelle asked a guard at the front of the chapel if he knew where to buy it, all in French. :) He indicated that when you climb the tour of the Notre Dame you can either buy a pass for just that venue or you can buy the whole museum pass. Great! Except that the line for the Notre Dame was now almost 100 people deep. We had a feeling that lines were just going to be the theme of Paris for us.
Fortunately the line moved fast and we were soon on our way. The weather was also good, which was a blessing based on the rain we had the day before and the lack of any sun cover in the line. Once at the top the views were amazing and you could even see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bend in the walkway that would only allow one person at a time up to the next level, and they blocked us from moving to the next level until the prior group was able to leave. So we stood up there, herded together on the roof with no where to go. Behind Michelle was a mother and daughter of unknown nationality (Eastern European somewhere) who had 0 concept of personal space. The mother was right next to Michelle, with her arm and shoulder on Michelle's back. Everytime Michelle moved forward a 1/2 inch to create some separation she moved as well. Michelle had her hand on a rail and the ladies hand was next to hers, touching her on the side of the hand. Michelle's hand moved, the ladies hand moved. It was the most bizarre experience. And the daughter was wedging herself in between Tim and Michelle using the same kind of distance and pressure. Finally Tim pretended to take a picture of Michelle so that the girl would have to move back, then he rested his hand on the rail so that the mom would have to get off of her back. And the mom did the same thing to Tim the entire time we were waiting there. As we moved up to the next level the mom went down to leave and the daughter continued up. Tim said she was so close to him on the stairs that the back of his heal kicked her with every single step. And when we had to stop on the stairs for a moment he could feel hear breath on the back of his arm. At the top he basically pushed her ahead of him on the shoulders to get her away from us. We have had people with 0 personal space before, but this was the oddest encounter we have had so far!
Once back on the ground we tried to go to the archeological site across from the churches open front court but it was closed for the day. So we headed over to the Jewish monument on the corner of the Ille de la cite. It is a moving tribute to those in the concentration camps.
Feeling the need for lunch we decided to head over to the left bank for a cafe. Walking across a bridge we noticed that the guard rails were loaded down with padlocks. It turns out this is one of the bridges in Paris where people will take locks (which are symbols of their love for someone) and attach their lock to the millions of other locks on the bridge. Then they throw away the key into the river to show their devotion. And when we say millions we are not exaggerating, the bridge was loaded down with lock on top of lock on top of lock. It was surprising that the bridge could hold all of the weight.
We had lunch at a little cafe. It is amazing how good a baguette with a few slices of meat and cheese can taste. Mayonaise is a beautiful addition when it can be found, but butter is just as good. :) The Smiths had an omelette with the most delicious potatoes on the side. Here's to hoping that all of our meals are this good.
After lunch we wandered over to the Pantheon only to discover that the pendulum that was used to show that the world was round was removed as the entire Pantheon was being renovated. We could still go into the building and visit the crypts below of famous French writers, thinkers and leaders, but much of the inside main floor was cordoned off. Apparently there are some major structural issues with the building based on how rain from storms was disbursed over the roof. Years of improper drainage created bigger issues and the French government was now going to re-engineer the roof and stabilize the walls. Based on the timeline they had created, the entire process will take about 10 years. Yikes!
After the Pantheon was finished we headed over to the Sainte Chappel, which is a small chapel with more stained glass on the walls than walls. And it too was being restored. There were a number of different computers that detailed how they were removing the original glass, cleaning it, replacing the metal holding the glass pieces together and then repainting the glass with the details that were originally there if the restoration was needed. It was an amazing process to watch, but sad that the entire chapel was not available to view.
Feeling inspired about all we had done so far in the day, we decided to continue piling it on with a quick trip to the Louvre. Since we had the museum pass we reasoned that the Smiths could complete the 1 hour Rick Steves podcast before it closed for the day and if there was more they wanted to see we could come back the next day for free and finish out the tour. The podcast, however, would take them to the major sites. Since this was Tim and Michelle's 3rd visit to the museum, there were only a few things they were interested in seeing, so the plan seemed sound. Surprisingly, the Louvre was so unbelievably crowded. Thankfully with the passes we walked right to the front of the security line and slipped in. If you ever go to Paris, buy the museaum pass, you will not regret it. Even if you don't go to enough museaums to equal the cost of the pass, the ability to go to the front of the lines is such a great time saver.
The rest of the day was filled with road side crepes, climbing the Arc de Triumph and dinner at the Lebonese restaurant across the street. It was nice because their menu had a fixed price option that was a "chef's choice". The chef basically gave you what he thought were the best meals of the day. It was fabulous, we had no idea what we were eating so we were able to focus on each piece of food and how it tasted to us. Of course we forgot to ask about the items we liked so we would know for later before we ate all of the item. But we left feeling full and ready for bed. Tomorrow we begin with the Eiffel Tower, which should be an early and exciting day!
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