It's a Beautiful life

Today I was off to see the heart of Paris. To wonder at her marvels and view the Paris of past. So I set off with my Rick Steves' Paris gudebook in hand and my horrid sense of direction in toe and away I went. First stop Notre Dame. Emerging from the Metro stop the Cathedral is stunning. I read Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame over the summer in preparation for my visit, but nothing could have prepared me for the real thing. The Cathedral is simply amazing to look at and what makes it even more amazing is the fact that the workers started this project knowing they would never see it finished. It took 2 centuries to complete, started in 1163 and finished in 1345 when the first mass took place.

A few yards in front of the main door is a small bronze cirlce that signifies the historic heart of Paris; Point Zero. This is the point from which all distances from Paris are measured.



Thats my sandaled foot standing on Point Zero
I am officially in the Heart of Paris!



Okay so prepare yourself, I am about to do a little plug. My Rick Steves' guidebook to Paris not only comes with ton's of information, as well as several walks and tours (for museums and such) around the city, but it also came with an audio tour of some of the most popular destinations. I used the one today for the Historical Paris walk and it was simply wonderful.I could pause when ever I needed to, and it added insight into the different places I was seeing. Not only that, but after being surrounded by people speaking French for the past three days it was wonderful to hear English.

Here I am with my headphones on in front of Notre Dame
Yes I am aware I look like a tourist but I don't paricularly
care at that point in time.

 Outside was frought with tourists, and I even had to use my Angry eyes on some of those that wanted to jump the line to enter the Cathedral. It was a long line but moved fast. I only waited about 15 minutes and once inside I spent a good haft hour wandering around in aww of the sheer magnitude of this incredible building. The Parisian's of old loved them some stained glass windows and Notre dame had plenty of them. The rose windows were especially beautiful.

The place is massive. I felt so small standing inside of it (*insert Short joke here). After Exiting Notre Dame I went on to explore the side and back view of it. The Facade is what gets the most attention as it is the most regonizable however, the side and back deserve just as much attention since they are equally, if not more so, impressive.

After wondering around for another 30 minutes or so I meandered over to the Ill' St. Louis an island just accoss the Seine from Notre Dame. It was a quite island, that very much had that small village French feel, which is surprising since there are about 500 tourist 600 feet away. After walking around the island for a little while I took a walk along the left bank of the Seine river. Here I found a place I have read about and longed to go to for a long time...

This bookstore was a hang out for all sorts of author's during the 20's, they flocked to this regin of Paris for the cheap rent and even cheaper wine. Even today struggling authors can room for cheap above the bookstore. Buying a book from here, is given an extra special treat. A shakespeare and company stamp on the front page (the true reason I went there!). Exiting the bookstore I continued on into the Latin Quater filled with strangely enough, alot of greek bistros. It was charming however to walk down the pedestrian only alleyways and meander into and out of different bookstores. After leaving the Latin Quarter I made my way slowly to Sainte-Chapelle. A gothic church I had read about and had been planning on coming to later in the week for one of their evening concerts. I wanted to see it in the daylight though. I stoped for lunch near by the church and as I sat eating my "hot dog" (I love the Parisian version of this, they stuff 2 hot dogs in a huge baggett and then cover the entire thing with cheese, it's wonderful!) I noticed on the other side of the street a man having an argument... with a building, I thought to myself "it's nice to know they have crazy people no matter where you go". After lunch I made my way to the church. After waiting in a short line to go throught security (at least they didn't make me take off my shoes) I entered the church. The ground floor was mysterious. Quiet and dark, they demanded no talking and even the ticket counter was talking in hushed tones. After proceeding up a narrow sprial staircase, the whole time of which I was praying that I didnt fall backwards and knock the poor lady behind me down, I was greeted with a sight that stole my breath.

This place has 15 columns of stained glass windows, that are just remarkable. They tell the story of the bible, starting from creation and ending with the end of the world. After standing for a moment in the sunlight streaming through the windows I took a seat, the better to admire the beauty. In that moment I really wished I could call up Alice Steinbach and tell her " I did it Alice, I went and stood in the light at St.Chapelle". I have a soft spot in my heart for gothic churches, or buildings of anykind for that matter, I feel that they not only serve a purpose, but the building itself praises God and is a testiment to the belief of it's people. After leaving St. Chapelle I continued just down the street to the Conciergerie, which many of you may know was the final stop for Marie-Antoinette before she famously lost her head. I walked the same dark passageway she did, I saw where she slept before that final day. It was very humbling, her crime was that she didn't care about her people enough, makes you want to take better care of the people around you. After the Conciergerie I headed over to Place Dauphine and then to see the statue of Henry IV. I explored around the Left Bank somemore. Including taking a walk along the Pont des Arts a pedestrian only bridge across the Seine river.

I also went in search of Le deux Magots, a famous haunt of Hemmingways while he was here in Paris. Once I found it, I was a tad dissapointed, it was very touristy, but I was still excited that I was enjoying a cafe creme at the same place he did. All in all it was a wonderful day! I seem to be having alot of those since I got here. I can honestly say that I fall more and more under this city's spell with each passing moment. I am so glad I decided to do this and can't wait to see what else this city has in store for me!

A panoramic view of the Left bank, Pont des Arts, and the Right bank. This city is so beautiful!

*Crepe count so far: 4
** Wine count so far: 1 Bottle 4 glasses
***For those of you who don't know who Alice Steinbach is, she is a wonderful travel writer who wrote two books Without Reservations, and Educating Alice. I can honestly say that reading her books is the reason that I knew I could travel solo. And because of that she changed my life forever. Thanks Alice!