Paris – Siene and Notre Dame

Saturday dawned beautiful and clear, and by the time we lazily got up the sun was flooding into our lounge. It was the first really nice day we had seen in Paris so we were all looking forward to getting outside and enjoying the lovely weather. As always when travelling with a group of people however things took longer than expected and we didn’t end up leaving until 2pm, by which time the sun had already said its goodbyes to the city. The point I am getting to is: don’t be fooled by nice weather in the winter! It will get cold and you will regret terribly your decision to dress lightly!

Hisham and I realised this unfortunate reality when we were about half way to the train station and pondered for a while whether we should go back to the apartment to stock up on warm woollies. “YES!” I can hear you yelling at your screen, “go back!!!” Wise words, my friend: wise words. We of course did not. The thought of those four flights of stairs was enough to propel us onwards with vain hopes of mild temperatures and light winds. I won’t burden you with further commentary on this topic but just know that in every single one of the following photos we were cold.

Our building with the park across the road to the left

Our plan for the day was to head in to town and find the Seine, preferably with a Locks of Love bridge attached; and then navigate our way to Notre Dame for a vigil Mass. We managed to get to the right station okay but it was undergoing major construction so by the time we found an exit we were quite completely disoriented. I don’t think I have mentioned yet that we did this whole Paris week without a single proper map of the city. We had an RER (trains for the suburbs) map, and photos of portions of the Metro map and occasional directional routes from Google, but we never had a proper Paris tourist map. Learn from us and get yourself one on the first day. 

Buy! Buy! Buy! Buy! Buy!

So we exited the station and tried to figure out where the Seine – in theory only two blocks away – might be. We could see no signs, no obvious thronging of tourists, no helpful street signs, no glimpses of water or anything else that might possibly indicate our desired direction, so we started asking people. We targeted tourists with maps and people who looked like they lived locally, but it wasn’t until about the sixth group of people we asked that we were finally given a definitive direction. 

Adam proudly putting “Baby in pu-deah” at one of the kid’s clothing shops we passed.

We slowly headed that way through the crowds, past the shops and across the busy streets and then ta-da! We finally found it.

We walked along the river for a couple of blocks in search of one of the famous lock bridges but they remained elusive for the day so we crossed over and headed in the general direction of Notre Dame instead. Soon afterwards, hunger, cold and the delicious smells drew us into the Quasimodo Café for some yummy crepes and much needed hot drinks.

Crepes in France! Tasted the same as at home.. huh who would have thought?

Adam insisted I include him and his CHEESE in my photo of the shop

We once again resumed the search for the Cathedral and could hear bells chiming in the distance so knew we were close but with all the tall buildings around we couldn’t see a thing. I asked the guy making the crepes and he pointed down the street. We walked maybe five steps and then the two towers of Notre Dame appeared prominently at the end of the block. See above about procuring yourself a tourist map.

Just kind of impressive..

He's still not sick of seeing sparkly Christmas trees

As with all famous landmarks around the world there were crowds of people milling around outside in the square despite the fact that it was dark and there was an icy gale blowing. We pretty quickly made our way inside and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go to confession. After waiting 43 of the 45 minutes I had had before Mass started I finally squeezed in and then headed straight into the church to pray. I definitely need to work on my patience! The others had been wandering around checking out the cathedral and were very gracious in not complaining that I wanted to pray more. By the end of Mass the coldness and tiredness were making their presence boldly known once more so we headed back through the network of tunnels that is the Metro to the Casa for some dinner and card playing to wind down.

Tomorrow: the Louvre!