Today we got high in Paris. We went to the 2 highest points in town. Sacre Cour Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower.
Started in the morning with our first go on the Metro. Very good service at 3 minute intervals. The Cathedral is on the highest hill in Paris and the Montmatre area surrounding it is renowned for artisans. As usual Kate found some shops, fabric shops this time. Yes the virus worked through her system quickly, as expected!
The streets were a lot steeper in this area, and we found some of those famous, well photographed stair cases. We took the stairs which were quite deserted, and made our way through the gardens. One more turn in the lovely, quiet gardens, and voila, there it was with all her crowds!
A lovely atmosphere with musicians busking and a lovely mime artist. We made our way through the crowds,and entered the magnificent structure. It was like entering a vortex, everybody moving in the same direction and dragging you along with them. We were able to pause in some pews at the end of our visit, and took in the austere environment, right under the magnificent dome.
This was not the end of our relationship with this mighty structure. The crypt was inviting us within. Thinking a crypt lye under the church, i (Kate), thought it might be an interesting visit. Whilst buying our tickets at the machine, the American lady asked of the people ahead "Are there a whole bunch of stairs?" "Yes" came the reply from above. Well, the crypt was not beneath the church, but we were in fact climbing the stairs to the very TOP! And yes, we found out that there were a whole bunch of stairs - about 369 of them!
We had our picnic lunch and wondered from the roof tops where we might have it. The sun was coming out, and we wanted to get some good shots of the Eiffel Tower, so decided to have our lunch up on top of Sacre Cour - cheese and sacramental wine! Comments from other tourists were "Wish we'd thought of that!", and I heard another lady say to her male partner "Come on we've seen everything", to which the reply came, "No we haven't - we haven't seen this lady's cheese!". I wonder if they might try that some other time. Spent well over 1 hour on top and had a few minutes totally to ourselves which was a buzz. I (Kate) was a bit worried that they had closed up shop and left us stranded up there!
After that we wandered through the streets and got some sketches of us and of the district.
Then a quick stop back at the ranch to unload the backpack. Tonight we travel light. Headed off for the Eiffel Tower at 7pm. Made it to the top at 945pm. Long lines but the reason there are lines is because everyone knows that it is worth the wait. A dizzying elevator ride amongst arguably the most fantastic and spectacular truss structure on the planet is a civil engineers dream. I have done this ride 20 years ago but to share this with one's soul mate is magic.
Started in the morning with our first go on the Metro. Very good service at 3 minute intervals. The Cathedral is on the highest hill in Paris and the Montmatre area surrounding it is renowned for artisans. As usual Kate found some shops, fabric shops this time. Yes the virus worked through her system quickly, as expected!
The streets were a lot steeper in this area, and we found some of those famous, well photographed stair cases. We took the stairs which were quite deserted, and made our way through the gardens. One more turn in the lovely, quiet gardens, and voila, there it was with all her crowds!
A lovely atmosphere with musicians busking and a lovely mime artist. We made our way through the crowds,and entered the magnificent structure. It was like entering a vortex, everybody moving in the same direction and dragging you along with them. We were able to pause in some pews at the end of our visit, and took in the austere environment, right under the magnificent dome.
This was not the end of our relationship with this mighty structure. The crypt was inviting us within. Thinking a crypt lye under the church, i (Kate), thought it might be an interesting visit. Whilst buying our tickets at the machine, the American lady asked of the people ahead "Are there a whole bunch of stairs?" "Yes" came the reply from above. Well, the crypt was not beneath the church, but we were in fact climbing the stairs to the very TOP! And yes, we found out that there were a whole bunch of stairs - about 369 of them!
We had our picnic lunch and wondered from the roof tops where we might have it. The sun was coming out, and we wanted to get some good shots of the Eiffel Tower, so decided to have our lunch up on top of Sacre Cour - cheese and sacramental wine! Comments from other tourists were "Wish we'd thought of that!", and I heard another lady say to her male partner "Come on we've seen everything", to which the reply came, "No we haven't - we haven't seen this lady's cheese!". I wonder if they might try that some other time. Spent well over 1 hour on top and had a few minutes totally to ourselves which was a buzz. I (Kate) was a bit worried that they had closed up shop and left us stranded up there!
After that we wandered through the streets and got some sketches of us and of the district.
Then a quick stop back at the ranch to unload the backpack. Tonight we travel light. Headed off for the Eiffel Tower at 7pm. Made it to the top at 945pm. Long lines but the reason there are lines is because everyone knows that it is worth the wait. A dizzying elevator ride amongst arguably the most fantastic and spectacular truss structure on the planet is a civil engineers dream. I have done this ride 20 years ago but to share this with one's soul mate is magic.
5 comments:
And how many suitcases did you take? And how many are you bringing back?
I daren't ask really - but it wasn't Wensleydale Cheese was it?
Good stuff keep 'em coming.
Love Dad
Absolutely gorgeous photos and stories to tell forever.
Just a quickie
North Adelaide versus Centrals next week in GF. They beat Woodville-West Torrens by 26 pts
Love Dad
aha - the city of romance for sure
oops.bugger the romance - did you say fabric shops????
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