Paris - Breakfast, Notre-Dame de Paris, and the Marais

Like I mentioned earlier, we really enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Monge. Even Krista at Passport Delicious agrees.

Breakfast at the hotel was simple, but more than adequate.

I actually ate a bit more than usual as I was sure we'd be doing a good amount of walking on this day.

And breakfast acutally held us (other than a snack of gougères and coffee) until dinner later that evening.

And then we were off........

We strolled up Rue Monge, onward to the Siene, crossing the Petit Pont (Little Bridge) to Île de la Cité, this island, which shaped like a ship, is considered to be the historical center of Paris.

In fact, if you head on over to Parvis Notre-Dame – place Jean-Paul-II, the square in front of Notre-Dame, you'll find Kilometer Zero (aka Point Zero), the point from which all distances are measured and, depending who you ask, either the center of Paris or France as a whole.

This is just the second Kilometer Zero we've actually visited; the other being in Madrid.

The main reason we were here was to visit Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the most well known examples of Gothic Cathedrals. With the two towers rising over 220 feet above the ground, it was quite a site to see. During the construction of the cathedral, as the rather thin walls were built higher and higher, stress fractures started to occur. To combat this, the architects decided to combat this by supporting the walls using flying buttress.

We were lucky; there was just a short line to get into the church on this day.

We entered and were engulfed by history.

For me, it was more about some of the more interesting items were in the chapels. Like this one.

This was in the Chapel of the Holy Childhood. Notice the hair on the sculpture of the young boy. This is the shrine of Saint Paul Chen who was executed at the age of 23 in 1861, one of the Martyr Saints of China.

This is the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

And then there's the statue of Joan of Arc, hero to Parisians, who claimed to have heard heavenly voices and rallied the French to several swift victories. Captured by the Burgundians she was turned over to the English, she was burned at the stake in 1431. Pope Callixtus III found her innocent and declared her a martyr in 1456. She was Canonized in 1920.

Notice that Joan is looking upwards.....to this beautiful stained glass window.

Leaving Notre-Dame was crossed over to Île Saint-Louis, the other of the two "natural" islands in the Seine.

Crossing over to the other side of the Seine we entered the district known as Marais.

In the center of Place de la Bastille resides the Colonne de Juillet. Topped by a Statue of Mercury, which looked like it was reaching for the contrail in this capture.

From here we strolled up Rue Saint Antoine, pausing to take in the vibe......

This is the Temple du Marais. It was originally a Catholic Convent, but was given to the Protestants after the French Revolution. It remains a Protestant Church to this day.

From the 13th to the 17th century, Le Marais was home to the nobles who built their mansions (hôtel particulier) in the area.

One that I read about is the Hôtel de Sully.

The courtyard seemed so peaceful, a world away from the busy streets on the other side of the building.

We enjoyed watching this bird taking a refreshing bath.....

This sparrow must have really been having a great time as soon enough, a friend joined in the festivities.

Right out the back of the Hôtel de Sully is Place des Vosges. Originally known as Place Royale, this square was built by Henri IV in 1605.

The buildings that surround the square were once the home to the nobles and aristocracy of Paris.

From here we walked thru the bustling Rue des Rosiers (the Jewish Quarter) and past the Pompidou Center, then decided to head back to the hotel.

With a short stop at Hôtel de Ville (City Hall).

After crossing the river; the Missus wanted to make one more stop.

I'd promised Her that She could get a Hermes scarf during every visit to France. It was time for Her to collect on that promise. So we headed on over to the Hermes shop on Rue de Sèvres, which was a pretty long walk.

We passed this sculpture along the way; it's named Le Centaure de César.

From the Hermes Store back to the Hotel Monge was a bit of a truck and we were rather tired.

We had some late afternoon plans, after all, we had only one full day in Paris on this leg of the trip and the Missus wanted to make the most of it.

But first, a nap!

Comments

[kat]

great walk!

[Soo]

The cathedral is lovely! That's cool the birds are having a good time too.

[Kirk]

It was kind of a long one Kat!

Today's warm up had me wishing I was one of those birds Soo!