Our last day in Paris

Today we had sunny weather as opposed to the rain we have been having for the last couple of days. We were up a little earlier than usual to make our way to Notre Dame Cathedral for the International Mass. However when we got there it was going to be be held later so we stayed for the Gregorian one which was full of chanting and beautiful music.




Celebrating the Mass


Leading the chants




Notre Dame is massive, a marvel of medieval engineering and to think that next year it will be 850 years old and it took 200 years to build. When you are inside it is all about the stone work and the massive beam and buttresses that hold the place together. It does have beautiful stained glass and art work but the stone work is what captured our attention.

















After Mass we toured around the church and it was packed with visitors, we could barely get through. In fact, we found yesterday and today that Paris was full of
people everywhere. We remarked that we would not want to be here in the summer in the peak of tourist season. It must be torture!





This was the crowd yesterday, couldn't resist the little one in her lime outfit.





The view from our cafe chair. There were lots of stylish people walking by.

We then walked back down to near the Eiffel Tower to catch a tour of the Seine River. As we boarded behind a bus load of Chinese tourists I wondered and and it happened. They wouldn't sit down, in everyone's way and people got fed up with asking them to move. It reminded me of when Dawn and I were in China, the people have no sense of personal space and really could not care less!




No way to see the sights here!


On our walk we saw lots of things such as....


The bridges full of locks placed there by new brides and grooms as good luck charms.




Lots of locks







Brides and grooms







Artists....








On the way back I took some pictures in our neighbourhood, The Marais...




Where we bought our bread





Had breakfast




Bought cheese




Admired the Halloween chocolate





Window shopped, the French love their footwear.




And they love their accessories as well.

And then all good things must come to an end. This has been our first trip to Paris but hopefully not our last. We have both enjoyed the city, the people, the sights and the food. So to end this travel blog we toast to a wonderful trip and to many more!

Location:Paris, France

Getting it all in...

We are still trying to check off a few more must sees in Paris so we went to the Louvre which was closed earlier in the week when we went by.





The Louvre holds collections from the ancient world to 1850 and is a massive building with over 30,000 works of art. In one visit we could only see a small portion and we weren't up for a full day visit. So our plan was to stroll through what we could and of course visit its most famous painting.


We started with the statutes...




We saw the curvy Venus de Milo from the late 2nd century





And the wind-blown Winged Victory of Samothrace from 190 B.C.


We visited the Italians




The Marriage at Cana by Veronese (1562-3 ) which as you can see is huge.






This one we liked but can't remember the name.






And of course we saw Mona Lisa by Da Vinci ( 1503-06)






We thought the French did well with this painting by David called the Coronation of the Emperor ( 1806-07)







And then at the end there was Michelangelo and his Slaves ( 1512-513)




A nice tour but we were done for the day!


We have been walking a lot as well since this is always the best way to see a city, especially one like Paris that is designed for walking. If we all walked as much as the people here we would all be in better shape.

Watching the people is as much fun as viewing the sights. Since it is difficult to take pictures of people on the go I don't have a lot but can share a few.





Powerful motorcycles are all over Paris, it seemed that this guy was taking the Harley for a test drive and Don was really interested in the bikes.






Another cafe scene, notice at least two people looking at maps or tour books. There are people around on every street corner doing the same thing so I looked up to see how many tourist this place sees a year and it is 28 million!






Enjoying a sunny day which is not often this time of year!





Then everywhere we see Merry Go Rounds, even in the rain.

And of course Paris is for lovers...












And for foodies...










We ate under this dome...








In this huge round restaurant.



Don had veal but my salad wasn't great. Paid too much for the food but not the experience.

However, this meal was great...




Avocado and crab served on roasted tomatoes




This dish which is creamy potatoes and shredded duck. I am trying all the duck dishes I can while I am here.

We are getting to the end of our trip, just one more day left and then flying out on Monday morning. Hope the weather holds so that we can see and do a couple of more things on the list.

Location:Paris, France

From Markets to Monet

Paris has many markets all over the city on different days of the week. The Bastille market just around the corner is an example of one. It is mostly food where locals buy produce, fish and meat, however there are cheap clothes stands as well...





The entrance to the market,it probably stretches for a km down the middle of the boulevard.


Now, do I really need this?






Great produce, too bad this never shows up in our supermarkets!






These are the two we bought for supper, along with kale and tuna steaks. It was all delicious!





Don was impressed with the salt fish





And Lapin ( rabbit) which is very popular here.

And of course we had to buy breakfast....




Buckwheat crepes with tomato, cheese and organic sausages. Yum!

We also visited The Musee d'Orsay, which houses French art of the 1800s and early 1900s. It is a former train station so the building has huge domes.





Both Don and I enjoyed the collections since there were so many nice pieces there. Don liked the paintings in the Oriental section the most...









While I liked the Impressionists, the collection was huge...




This one by Renoir was my favourite.The way he used the yellow paint to create the pools of sunshine worked really well.




This was one of the Monets I really liked, so many shades of green.

(All of these images of the paintings come from web as we were not allowed to take photos of the works.)


We finished the evening with a walk around the neighbourhood which is full of old buildings...




The buildings look so different in the night.




A street corner...





The cobblestone streets in the Jewish Quarter which was once the largest in Western Europe. 75% of the population were lost in WWII.




And of course as we walked we also sat in the cafes and did what the Parisians do...




Beer and a champagne cocktail. The end to another great day in Paris!

Location:Paris, France