France went off Daylight Savings Time overnight, so we either got an extra hour's sleep -- or woke up an hour early. At any rate, we had plenty of time to make it to 10:00 Mass at Notre Dame; we even arrived early enough to attend the singing of Lauds that preceded Mass. We chose this Mass because it was to be said/sung in Gregorian Chant, and we were both amazed at how many of the sung prayers came back to us from our days in the elementary school choir. Makes me wonder what else is stored in our mental attics... The cathedral very helpfully provided a bulletin that had English, Spanish, Italian and German translations of the French Liturgy of the Word; thanks to that, the Latin chants, and the universality of the Mass, we were on top of everything except the homily. That gave us time to take in our remarkable surroundings; as the incense rose to the vaulted ceilings and we looked at the glorious stained glass windows above, we couldn't help thinking that this immutable rite has been celebrated in this church for nine centuries!
After Mass, we walked through the nearby flower and bird market on the island and then took the Metro to the Abbesses station, part of the way up Montmartre. We climbed the rest of the great hill, stopping for lunch (and a much-needed breather) in a small, quiet cobbled square. A short but steep distance later, and we were in the anything-but-quiet Place du Tertre. This square epitomizes he Disney version of bohemian Paris and is chock-a-block with sidewalk artists, cafes, and tourists. We inched our way through the crowds to the steps below the hilltop Basilica of the Sacred Heart and then made a quick circuit of the church, with its rich mosaics -- no photos allowed. Tiers of steps and plazas below the church offer wonderful views of the city at its feet, but though the sun was beginning to break through the clouds, a lingering haze limited the photo ops.
We decided to walk down the hill to the center of the city, and it was an easy and interesting descent. Once we passed the busy Place Pigalle, the streets were quiet and we soon found ourselves at the famed Opera Garnier (think: Phantom of the Opera), with Baron Haussmann's beautiful boulevards radiating from the massive gilded building.
After a stop to visit the church of La Madeleine, we walked past the swank shops and Maxim's on Rue Royale to Place de la Concorde. We picked a shady bench in the park at the end of the Champs Elysees to sit and watch the passing scene for a while; the sun had come our in full force and we were shedding jackets by then.
Deciding to have a look at how the powerful and beautiful live, we walked from Concorde to the Rue Faubourg St. Honore, past the American and British Embassies, designer shops, and the Elysees Palace, the French White House. Here, as elsewhere in Paris, a heavy security presence was obvious. Local gendarmes, national police, and the army (with submachine guns) have been at the major transportation hubs and high profile attractions.
As we headed back across the Champs Elysees and walked between the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais, both with queues for their current exhibitions, all of Paris and its visitors seemed to be out enjoying the absolutely fantastic afternoon; autumn colors and late summer temperatures are hard to beat! The throngs extended along the beautiful Pont Alexandre III, with its gilded statuary and ornate lamps, to the Left Bank and the grand esplanade leading to Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides, its gilded dome shining in this afternoon's brilliant sunshine. (Paris does gilding VERY well!)After a short walk along the Quay on the Left Bank, we crossed the pedestrian bridge to the Tuileries and walked toward the Louvre along a quiet elevated allee of trees between the Sunday crowds in the park and the Seine.
By late afternoon, we walked through the arched Carrousel du Louvre to I.M. Pei's pyramids in the Louvre courtyard. The entry lines were gone and the crowds were beginning to thin, and this made a good last frame for a picture-perfect day.
A few stops on the Metro, and we were back in the Marais for happy hour and dinner at home.
No comments:
Post a Comment