Today is Labour Day in France so it is a National Holiday. We had been warned so knew that most museums and national monuments would be closed. So our plan was to use today to do laundry since the apartment block that we are in has coin laundry in the basement. What we did not know was that the front desk would be closed today and of course that meant we could not get the tokens for the laundry machines. Oh well, we will have to find a time to do laundry soon but for today we might as well start to see what we can find to do.
We have been talking about when and how to go to England in mid June and so after a bit of research and checking options we decided that with Euorail we would be able to get a discount on the Eurostar train (chunnel train) from Brussels to London. Even better we learned that Eurostar has a ticket office in Paris since we would need to pick up the ticket personally and not online. So our first chore today was to find the office and pick up our tickets. Once this is finalized we know the dates we will be on the continent and that allows us to plan a bit of an itinerary. We are aware that we can not continue to plan as we go since tourist season is starting and it is difficult to get the train routes and times we want unless we plan ahead. That is our goal this week and the first step was to set an end date for our time on the continent.
Once we achieved that we set out to find the Notre Dame since behind it is the company that gives us a discount on the Seine River cruise/tour. So our goal was to get booked on a cruise and then later tour the Notre Dame. The tour was one hour long and took us from behind the Notre Dame (on the Isle de la Cite) and we followed the river upstream to the end of the second island (Ile St-Louis) and turned downstream to go on the opposite side of the islands towards the Eiffel tower.
As we sailed along we were given a commentary of the buildings we were passing on both sides of the river, which I will not bore you with naming, in French, English and German. Once we arrived at the Eiffel Tower we turned around and returned to where we started. This was done in a very comfortable boat with our ability to sit on the top deck with great views and wonderful sunshine. By the way the temperature today all day was a perfect 20-21 degrees with a wonderful soft breeze. It was a perfect day for the families to have a holiday and be able to get out and enjoy themselves.
We returned to the dock and walked along the promenade until we were back to the Notre Dame Cathedral (Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris). As we walked into the courtyard in front of the main entrance we were appalled to see a line up that stretched from the front door clear across the courtyard to the street. Apparently today the entrance fee is waived (May 1) and everyone decided to have a look inside the Cathedral. The fact that today is Sunday and they also hold mass several times during the day also added to the congestion. No matter we were going to visit the Cathedral and learned that the access to the tower was closed for today – well maybe another day. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the line moved very quickly – likely because they were not collecting fees – so we were inside within 20 minutes.
The Cathedral is huge – and very ornate – with ceilings that were two or three stories high, huge pillars that separated the areas of the cathedral as well as supported the arched roof. Along the sides are small bays with arched ceilings set up for a variety of reasons from alters to memorials. We walked around the perimeter with the bays on one side and the pillars separating us from the main sanctuary on the other side. The layout for tourists was well planned so our movement was paced but not rushed. In addition, even with a very large number of people, it was orderly in movement since basically you move counter clockwise around the outside perimeter around the sanctuary and then you go into the sanctuary and then exit. There was a service concluding as we entered and I was amazed at how the service was functioning even with tourists walking around the outside taking pictures. (I think the sanctuary was only accessible from the back during the service.) Regardless it finished shortly after we entered.
The stain glass windows were stunning with the bright sunshine on the outside and the dark interior. As well the statutes, carvings and other artefacts really emphasised the history of this building not only as a spiritual center for Paris but a reminder of the history of the Parisian community. Regardless here are some interesting facts I have learned and studied at the Cathedral.
Notre Dame de Paris (French for Our Lady of Paris), also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Catholic cathedral. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra (official chair), of the Archbishop of Paris. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in France and in Europe, and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture. The first period of construction from 1163 into the 1240's coincided with the musical experiments of the Notre Dame School. Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. The cathedral was essentially complete by 1345.
After we left the Cathedral we looked at the watch and it was 2:30, too early to call it a day so we decided to move onto a 3rd activity – a tour of the Catacombs. Once again we had to jump onto the metro. A comment about the metros – what a great way to travel in a city this size! We have been using the metro for all our movements in Paris and it is great in that we can easily find the interlinked routes to move very large distances in relatively quick time. We are staying in a suburb Creteil which takes about 30-40 minutes on the subway to get to center of Paris. Notre Dame, for example is beyond the center of the city from where we stay but to get there only took about 45 minutes and we basically sat on a metro car without any traffic hassles. So for the 3rd time today we are on the metro heading to another area of Paris to check out the Catacombs. As it turns out they are closed today! Oh well, next plan – lunch which was easy since we went to MacDonald’s. (BTW their salads here are not very inspiring.)
So what to do? That was quickly answered when we talked to a couple from Toronto who have been looking for things to do (they did not know about the Labour Day holiday) and told us of the places they have been where they were closed. We figured that the large park, Bois de Boulogne, would be open and with such a wonderful day it would be fun to go and explore – to take a walk. And it was everything we expected. We arrived at one end of the park on the metro (Dauphine exit) and decided to walk through the park on the east side pass the two lakes to the lower end where we could walk over to the Ranelagh metro station to return home. Not only were we enjoying the paths and trails through wooded sections with wide gravelled paths with woods on both sides that were clean and inviting. The first section had little underbrush growing but otherwise the ‘forest’ felt natural and untouched. We passed (and were passed) by families, individuals, bikers, runners, and combinations of all of these.
We did not walk too long before we came across the first of two lakes. Little did we know that today we would be walking the full length of Lake Inferior AND Lake Superior. (I think there might be a bit of size envy here regarding Lake Superior but we did not mention anything!) When we got to the lakeside paths we were amazed at the number of people out enjoying themselves – and especially the number of families having a family day together. We found people sitting on the grassy slopes with picnics or just sun bathing, families with different types of games being played and physical activities such as running, biking and rowing. Oh yes, there were lots of row boats on the lakes and we enjoyed watching the effort being put into control and movement.
We watched one fellow (who was being videoed by his ‘wife’ and watched by his son) decided to pull extra hard on the oars – only to have the oars slip out of the water - and with a surprised look on his face watched him tumble backwards off the seat into the bow of the boat. He was not hurt but it took a bit of time for him to (and everyone else) to stop laughing so hard so he could focus on getting back up. By the time he did he discovered the boat had drifted into the lower branches of a tree on the shoreline and he had to really stop laughing to focus on getting himself extracted. I am not sure if the video camera got turned off, but if not it might appear on the Funnies Home Videos.
Another humorous event we watched unfold was a young lady being ‘taught’ how to row by a young man with the elderly lady (mom I suspect) supervising in the bow of the boat. If you have ever watched someone first learning to row you know the humour we enjoyed while she tried to sort out the oars, get them pulled in the same direction and with equal force. It was not really funny I am sure to her as she struggled but you have to enjoy the effort and the calamity of learning to row for the first time. I am not sure how it ended up other than to say later we watched this same couple rowing – but now he was at the oars.
The third interesting sight was to watch one couple decide to change positions in the row boat – she was moving back and he was going to take over rowing. First he stood up in the boat (almost lost it and fell in but managed to regain his balance) and then planted his feet firmly on opposite sides of the boat bottom and managed to balance himself there. Then his partner crawled down and between his legs to the back of the boat and he ‘dropped’ down to the seat and turned around. This skilful manoeuvre was accomplished without anyone getting wet, but I am not sure I would have been so lucky if it had been me.
As you can imagine I did not take any pictures of any of these incidents since I am a sensitive guy and would not what to have recorded any of the potential calamities. Besides, I got so caught up in the watching I forgot to take the pictures.
Other enjoyable sights in the park was to watch a family work out how to sail a wind powered but remote controlled sailboat. (The sail angles and positions was remotely controlled and the tiller.) We watched a young boy (3 years old I am guessing) try to catch ducks, and as I said families having a great day.
Speaking of families, we spotted ducks with ducklings, and swans with cygnets. The waterfall was very pretty but hard to see through the trees. We left the park by walking beside the Hippodrome d’Auteuil which is a horse racing venue. By this time it was getting towards 6 pm and time for us to head home. This has been a full and wonderful day. We will have to see what tomorrow brings.
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