Notre Dame Cathedral

While in Paris we also paid a visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral (pun intended). I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but flash photography was not allowed.





It is quite a big tourist attraction, so there were lots of people in the courtyard in front of the cathedral. Some people were standing in groups talking, some were basking in the sun, children were running freely, and I saw more than one person who was sketching a picture of the cathedral.





After standing in line to get into the cathedral I was surprised to see how crowded it was! We were elbow-to-elbow with other tourists and there were lots of tour groups there too.



The crucifix was quite impressive - it was probably at least 8 feet tall and took up an entire wall.




Of course there were many beautiful stained glass windows.






The architecture was interesting and beautiful. It was a little hard to see everything though because the place was swarming with people.











Journey lit a candle for Saint Therese.



This is an enormous candleabra - at least 6 feet tall because it was taller than Jeff.



One of the alters.

Overall the cathedral was beautiful and I was very happy that we went. However, we were disappointed at how commercial it was. As soon as we walked in the door they had phamphlets, audio tape tours, books and tour guides for sale.

There were votive candles in front of the statues of the saints and it cost 2 Euros to light a candle to honor the saint. They had certain areas roped off for private prayer. I thought this was nice until I saw people leaving the prayer area and depositing coins into the little boxes near the exit.

I was really shocked when I saw vending machines that distributed gold medals for 2 Euros each. You could choose which picture of the cathedral you would like on your medal, and each medal was supposedly "blessed".

And then there was the portable gift shop at the cathedral exit. It was like one of those vendor carts in the mall and they had a large selection of souvenirs- t shirts, hats, silver cross necklaces, replicas of the cathedral, even cathedral snow globes (the kind that has water in them and you turn them upside down and then right side up to make the little bits of "snow" fall).

Of course once we exited the church there were plenty of people there to hand us religious phamphlets and ask for money contributions. I think maybe I was spoiled by our trip to the Grote Kerk in Haarlem. That was such an unforgettable experience that it will be hard to find anything comparable.

Paris Scenery

The Seine River is quite beautiful. There are cement walls enclosing the river, with stairs to walk down along the water. This creates a great area to sit and read a book - with a light breeze and the warm sun (or you can just check out the homeless people who live under the bridge:(



A man made island created in the Seine River - quite crowded on a sunny day.



This is a very interesting fountain across from the Eiffel Tower.

Musee Du Louvre

While in Paris we were hoping to visit the world famous Louvre museum but we were running short on time. Instead we decided to spend some time in the sunny, beautiful courtyard.





The buildings were absolutely stunning. It was hard to capture how immense this place was since I could only take one picture at a time. I wish I had taken the video camera!





The kids enjoyed running around in the courtyard. The large glass pyramid shape in the center is the entrance, then there is an escalator to take you down to the lower level. The smaller glass pyramid shapes are open areas where you can look down and see people and artwork.





Maybe the next time we're in Europe we'll actually be able to go into the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa!

Le Tour Eiffel

Our first stop (besides the hotel where we dropped off our luggage) was the Eiffel Tower. I went to the top of the World Trade Center when I was in college and I always wanted to do the same at the Eiffel Tower.










Jeff (aka "Mr Vertigo") stayed at the bottom with the sleeping Jagger while Justice, Journey and I went to the top!







Justice in the tower elevator


Journey in the tower elevator

Views from the Eiffel Tower:















Notice the layer of smog?



Journey and I on the 3rd floor of the tower.

Paris

We went to Paris for the weekend! Boy does it sound neat to say that! We took the high speed Thalyus train that travels from Amsterdam through Den Haag, Rotterdam and Brussels (Belgium) and into Paris Noord. The ride took 4 hours and we arrived in Paris around 1pm.

Justice and Jagger playing cards on the train.

We booked a room at La Tocadero, a 4 star hotel in Central Paris near the Seine River. The hotel was nice, but the rooms were the typical small European hotel rooms. One of the bathrooms had a bidet. Jagger thought it was a baby bath tub! YUCK! I found it ironic that we traveled all the way to Paris and the painting over one of the beds was of a scene in Scranton Pennsylvania! I was expecting something a little more exotic!





The weather in Paris was absolutely beautiful! It was warm and sunny with a nice breeze blowing.





It's really too bad that the people weren't warm and sunny too. I guess it is true what they say about the French....the people were very pushy in the streets. The cab drivers were down-right rude (at least the ones that would even stop and pick us up – more than one cabbie started to pull over to get us and then saw the family and pulled away). One cab driver expected all 5 of us to sit in the backseat! Jeff asked him to move his maps and things from the front seat so he could sit there and he wouldn't do it! Instead he was telling the kids to move over and make room for their dad! Needless to say we got out of that cab and we were not very happy about it.

The people in Paris stopped in groups to talk on the sidewalk and didn't move out of the way or even acknowledge that they saw us trying to get past - even when we were pushing a child in a stroller. The woman at the bakery said to me “I do not speak English” in perfect English. It was obvious that she CAN speak English but chooses not to! Traffic was a nightmare! And the smog was awful! Justice woke up the next morning with terrible allergy problems – we're sure it was the pollution because you could see it in the air! Too bad the French aren't as keen on bike riding as the Dutch are. And do you know that over 600 people in Paris are taken to the hospital each year because they have slipped on dog shit on the sidewalk? Seriously. My tour book says so. And after touring Paris I believe it.




Despite the people and smog we did have a good trip. We saw sights that I never thought I would see in my life.....I'll continue with photos on other pages.



Lunch at a French Outdoor Cafe