2 October 2009 Paris - Long Day Walking

Today we went out for a long day of walking, or that's the way it turned out.

We started by going out to the local cafe for a shot of coffee and to read the International Herald Tribune.

Then we set out for the Louvre Museum. Rather than have to change Metro lines we walked a few blocks up the street to Place de la Bastille. The infamous prison is no longer there but there is a pillar to memorialize it. Also, the new opera house is there.

We spent the morning in the Louvres. It is a HUGE place. One cannot possibly begin to see it all in one day, let alone a morning. So we prioritized. We saw the ancient Roman exhibits, some ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian. Very interesting to see the statues of the likenesses of Romans BAV recognizes from his Roman history - Pompeii, Agrippa, Caligula, Claudius, Caeser, Augustus Caeser, Tiberius, Nero, etc. We then went to see the Dutch masters. Very cool. By lunchtime we were beat.

We walked across the river to the Left Bank and the Latin Quarter where we wandered around and had lunch in a cafe on Blvd. St. Germain, after seeing the Church of St. Germain (the oldest church in Paris). We had a pleasant lunch outside, while the Parisiens huddled inside. It was a "chilly" 18 degrees. (Some places had heaters going.) We were in our short sleeves.

We then wandered over to see the Church at St. Sulpice, the one that is supposedly in the DaVinci Code book/movie. The details in the book/movie about the church are bogus, mostly and the church exhibits went to some length to point out where. Large and impressive. By the time we finished there it was about 1:45 - not enough time to Metro back to the apartment before going back to Notre Dame at 3:00 for the veneration of the Crown of Thorns. So we wandered around the Latin Quarter and Isle de Cite until it was time for that. Exhausted by the time it came to go into Notre Dame.

In Notre Dame we were part of a large crowd that participated in a service to venerate the Crown of Thorns, as it was the first Friday of the Month. In 1239 King Louis (now St. Louis) acquired 3 relics from the Byzantine Emperor - a piece of the True Cross, one of the nails and the Crown of Thorns. Of course, no one can be dead sure that it is THE Crown of Thorns, as the records only start referring to it around 400 AD. It was an interesting service.

We then walked to the Metro station on the Isle de Cite and Metro'ed home, stopping along the way to buy some grocs and, of course, fresh bread at the local bakery for our picnic tonight. We are beat!!