Busy Day

We thought we were heading to versailles but plans changed - again.
we headed through the jardin du luxembourg to the Sorbonne.  As we passed we finished our tour of Marie Curie.  We headed to the Musee de Cluny.  As we walked around the back of the museum we were able to see some of the remains of the roman baths.  Inside the museum we saw books from the 1300s with calligraphy and metal for details.  We wandered further in and saw tombstones and the heads of judea that had been salvaged from Notre Dame when they were decapitated during the revolution thinking they were the heads of France rather than Judea.  There were ivory carvings and altarpieces that are too ornate to be described.  We saw the room containing the lady and the unicorn - little did we realize that these are actually 6 different tapestries.  One for each of the senses and one representing love and understanding.  The next rooms contained religious relics and daily life ones.

Our next stop was at La Bocca dela Veritas - yummy Italian!!

Stopped by St Germain des preis which is being renovated so there was not much to see on the inside.  I smashed my hand on an outside door that swung more freely than I expected.  We walked up Bonaparte toward the seine.  We stopped in at Laduree a chocolate shop that may have outdone our original chocolate macaroons.

We walked up to the Seine to the Pont Neuf and across to the ile de la cite.  We found a bench to enjoy our chocolate treats before entering the concierge.  A modern art show was in the main hall - not my style but definitely set the mood for the story that was about to unfold.  We saw Marie Antoinette's cell and realized that the prisoners were able to pay to have a more comfortable cell ( including cots rather than just straw).  In the courtyard we saw the stone table where they ate and the fountain where they washed their clothes.  The most stunning to me was the corner of 12 where they were placed to say their goodbye's before being carted away for execution.

The most brillant church so far had to be Sainte-Chapelle.  Even though we visited when the rain was spitting - we could imagine the brillance of the upper chapel.  When you enter you enter a lower chapel and I had a moment of disappointment but then after climbing the spiral stairs you paused to catch your breath and then lost it again as wall to wall almost floor to ceiling you were surrounded in stained glass.  The images were not the large blocks of color creating a grand image but very petit pieces to create a collage of color yet a picture none the less.  We hope to return and see the Chapelle in all of its brillance.

We walked along the island and the seine towards Notre Dame.  As we rounded the end of the building our entire view was the cathedral.  The line was very long and as we entered the scent and the environment gave us all pause.  There were many visitors to see the creche.  Mary was beautiful as always with the empty manger between she and Joseph.  There was a large bin collecting prayers from the visitors.

After walking the inside we then passed into the garden on the side of Notre Dam to see the flying buttresses and the gargoyles.  The view from the back and side are almost more impressive than the front to me.  we crossed over the seine to the booksellers.  Wandering along we crossed to a small park containing the oldest tree in Paris.  It also had an old roman ruins church.  We crossed over to St Severin and wandering inside we found an amazing organ and a statue of the virgin and child.

As we wandered toward our apartment we passed the Sorbonne again and the cluny under we reached the Jardin however at this time of night they were closed so we were forced to walk around the perimeter to our cut over...home again.