We had a fabulous pilgrimage with Fr Mitch Pacwa and then a wonderful week in addition. How better to say au revoir to France than to spend our waning moments in the City of Light!
We drove from Versailles into Paris with only a couple of wrong turns, but when you are on a crowded "Interstate" style highway, wrong turns can be doozies! We got to see parts of Paris most tourists never see! But we did eventually find Gare Lyon and the Avis return. Unfortunately, the gas station just up the street would not accept my credit card, so we got soaked by Avis for returning the car not filled up!
We walked across the street to the bus stop, boarded the city bus (#63) and proceeded to our hotel.
Our hotel had and elevator but Theresa preferred this quaint spiral staircase! |
Across the street from our hotel sits this nice little pastry shop. We often bought baguettes here for sandwiches and snacks |
On the day of our arrival we had a celebratory chocolate chip cookie (Theresa) . . . |
. . . and chocolate eclair (Bob). The most amazing thing about this trip was that both of us weighed the same as when we left nearly three weeks ago!!! |
Space restrictions prevented "flying" buttresses, so these massive buttresses were used to support the walls so that the interior could be nearly completely all stained glass! |
Looking toward the entry from the combined altar and reliquary. The "rose" window and murals combine to enhance the beauty of the nave |
The King had his private "box" as well as a window through which he could see the Crown of Thorns & Altar |
The lower chapel is less opulent than the upper but is nonetheless a beautiful chapel |
The upper chapel also contains depictions of martyrs |
Just to the right of Sainte Chapelle is the Palais de Justice. Since we'd already cleared security screening to get into the complex, we wandered about this building too. |
We saw several people dressed in judicial style robes with a white tab in front. We surmised that when an attorney appears in court, s/he must dress accordingly |
The interior of the Palace of Justice is massive and contains quite a lot of fine art |
Outside again, we crossed the Seine just upstream from Pont Neuf (New Bridge) which is actually one of the oldest bridges in Paris - oh those whacky French! |
The interior is quite impressive |
St Joan of Arc, of course! |
These "kneelers" caught Theresa's eye! |
Sure enough, the passage opened into the large interior courtyard for the Louvre! |
We impressed into service a young girl in Paris with her Mom to snap this photo. As you can see from our dress, it was quite cool - but the mist had given way to sunshine! |
Through another passage,we were in the entry courtyard withe the famous (or infamous) pyramid entrance! |
The line to enter was not bad. (While here two weeks past with the pilgrimage group, we entered through a subterranean entrance) |
The dummy hanging from the window of the North Wing caught our eye! Oh those whacky French! |
The view back toward the Louvre entrance from the smaller arc |
This wonderful plaza and fountain is just before Place de la Concorde and the beginning of Champs Elysee - here looking back toward the Louvre |
In this plaza, there are some fabulous statues - this one "Remorse of Cain" was wonderful. The teen at the base hams it up for a photo by his buddies |
A tribute to the great rivers of the Earth - here the Tiber (See the babes being suckled by the she wolf - they would be Romulus & Remus!) |
Here the Nile - the tiny Sphinx at the right gives it away |
At the entrance are two magnificent statues - this one carries a caduceus - the winged staff of Hermes (Mercury), so I'm guessing that's Hermes riding the pegasus! |
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We decided we couldn't leave France without having a crepe! Theresa had an apple while I had Grand Marnier |
The Fountain of the Seas with Eiffel Tower in background |
Just across Place de la Concorde is Pont de la Concorde and this view! |
Place Sartre - Beauvoir |
Not sure what it means but just doesn't sound all that appetizing! |
A true antique - an old Peugeot! |
Just down the street from Le Deux Magots is this place - our guide book ("Black Book of Paris") informed us this was the first cafe in the world! 1686! |
Salon de The' - the first cafe in the world! |
Just a little south is the Church of St Sulpice. It apparently is in "The DaVinci Code" - we wanted to explore it only because it is a beautiful church! |
St Sulpice nave |
St Sulpice altar relief |
And behind the altar is apparently a reliquary |
Great art - here Jacob wrestles with an angel (or God?) |
Just a short walk brought us to the Jardin du (Garden of) Luxembourg - one of the largest and most popular city parks in central Paris - named after this palace which now houses the French Senate. |
Le Triomphe de Silène (The Victoryof Silenus) a tangle of human forms, Silène is depicted as stripped, drunk and staggering - and apparently having quite a good time |
A tribute to Polish composer Frederick Chopin |
The park is filled with places to sit in the sun and read, talk, or just rest |
This little fountain and pool was popular spot and a little boy was feeding ducks! |
So we unloaded too and checked in! Had those folks not been on the van, we would have been in the wrong place!
So we return to the US with fond memories, a whole bunch of new friends, and new insights and appreciations for our Catholic faith.
Who knows where our next adventure will lead us!
Until then, au revoir!