Paris 2005: Day 3 (cont.)

After exploring the facade, I headed inside. The church is obviously massive but wasn't overwhelmingly crowded so I walked around slowly, taking in all the sites. I've developed quite a fascination with stained glass and enjoyed what was on offer. I did make sure to light a candle for roo and make a special wish for her, although I didn't remember to look for Ste. Clair's shrine to do it. Immediately after I took a picture of the candle, because I'm lame like that. Speaking of roo, maybe she could help me figure out why one of the stained glass windows depicted a Star of David. I also noticed a Star of David mosaic at Sacré Cœur the previous evening which was rather curious.

(Click the thumbnails for larger images.)

I skipped the opportunity to go up to the Tower of Notre Dame, mostly because I didn't feel like climbing the stairs, so upon exiting I did a quick look around the back of the church. The side of the church is very ornate and ominous looking, however, there is a nice garden at the back as well as a nice view of the rear of the church.

At this point I was getting a little hungry, so I began searching for the place that Jenny recomended for lunch. She couldn't remember the exact name of the place but described more or less where it was relative to Notre Dame. Well, I don't know if I found the right place but I ended up having a delicious (if somewhat pricey) croque monsieur at the Cafe Parvis.

Following lunch, immediately after uttering my one and only complete sentence in French for the entire trip to the waitress, I headed to nearby Ste. Chapelle, a chapel with astonishing stained glass.

After Ste. Chapelle I headed over to the Conciergerie, which served as a prison for many years, housing many famous French prisoners, including Marie-Antoinette.

Following that I walked down along the left bank, passing the churches of Saint Germaine du Pres and of Saint-Sulpice, and also passing by Pierre Herme twice. I actually walked into the shop both times I passed by, but was utterly overwhelmed by the crowd and the display, so didn't end up buying anything. I also felt a little too conspicuous about taking photographs in there. Not to worry though, I did not leave Paris without some macarons.

From Pierre Herme I headed up to the big department stores on Blvd. Haussmann, stopping off to buy Laurent a bottle of wine for Christmas (Laurent, was it any good? Did you use it to drown your sorrows a little?) and walked around the stores a little, but I was exhausted and just found the crowds overwhelming, so after a little while I went back to the hotel. I had walked so much during the day that I could barely put one foot in front of the other, but instead of just jumping into bed I went out to look for food. That was a big mistake, but I'll spare you the details. Just know that there is horrible, overpriced food in Paris.

Posted by raptorgirl at January 2, 2006 02:58 PM