Today started out well but we had a rather large hiccup in the middle of it. Initially it was our usual short walk to the metro.
Di and Karen always seem to manage to score an “egg” seat which are very comfortable. We were on our way for another walking tour around the Monmatre area of Paris.
We were to meet our guide Raj outside the Moulin Rouge for our two hour walking tour which would see us finish at Sacre Coeur. After an explanation of the history of the Moulin Rouge where Fraser has danced on stage during a previous visit to Paris, we then headed up the hill.
On our way we went passed one of the Metro entrances which in this case was very elaborate and not like your usual grotty ones.
We were about 20 minutes into the tour when Fraser received notification that the bike box was going to be delivered in the next hour. He decided to hightail it back to the apartment and wait outside to meet the delivery chap. He had been gone five minutes when Di realized that he had left without the keys to the apartment. She then terminated the tour and Karen and Di headed off after Fras. The girls were quite chuffed as they managed to negotiate three metro lines on their own home to the apartment without getting lost.
Fraser had got back in time to receive the box and then all three of us proceeded to get it in the worlds tiniest lift. We were not really looking forward to have to carry it six flights up as it weighed 32kg and was an awkward shape to get up the winding stair well.
We got it into the apartment where we had to retape the box in a few areas as they had used it as a bit of a punching bag. Two more trips to go with it. Getting it to the airport in Paris and then getting it back on the plane to Calgary.
We were all a bit frazzled after all that unexpected excitement, so we spent the next few hours back at the apartment resting up before heading back out again to our next tour.
This time it was back down towards Norte Dame to Sainte-Chapelle which was the royal families private chapel.
We had heard the stained glass in the chapel was some of the most beautiful in the world. It was indeed beautiful and as Di makes stained glass she was most fascinated. A lot of it is traditional stained glass but more etched glass which is what you usually find in these religious buildings.
Construction began sometime after 1238 and the chapel was consecrated on 26 April 1248. The Sainte-Chapelle is considered among the highest achievements of the Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture. They say the easiest way to identify Gothic architecture is to ask yourself “would it be painful to sit on” and if your answer is yes, then it is Gothic. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion relics, including Christ’s claimed Crown of Thorns – one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom. This was later held in the nearby Norte-Dame Cathedral until the 2019 fire, which it survived. It is now back in the cathedral.
As beautiful as it was, to make the glass stand out even more would be to just give it a bloody good clean. There was some work being done on it but not sure if it was cleaning or not. Paris has some most amazingly beautiful buildings and it is understandable that you can’t necessarily clean them as they are made of limestone and are a very porous but glass is not like that.
We then decided to head towards the smaller island in the Seine called the Ile St Louis to look for somewhere for dinner as we heard it was a good spot.
Our walk to dinner took us around the side of the cathedral where there really is still a lot of scaffolding up. They say the repairs will be finished in 2026 – we will wait and see.
Our wanderings took us past a lot of the artisans on the south bank near the Latin Quarter.
There was nothing of much interest except lots of second hand books being sold.
A view back across the Seine to the Hotel de Ville which is actually the town hall of Paris. The word hotel in Paris just means a building of some sort but usually referring to a municipal kind of structure.
When you think of the Seine in Paris, this is the view that usually comes to mind. They spent millions cleaning up the Seine for the 2024 Olympics and even had the swimming portion of the triathalon in the Seine. The Seine has always had the reputation of being an open sewer and in the old days, it most certainly was. Still don’t think we would consider dipping our toes into it as it has a lot of green algae build up along it’s banks.
We found a very small restaurant indeed, to have our dinner. It was almost in competition to our elevator when it came to just how small it was.
Fras went for the garlic snails and wasn’t disappointed with them. We had the most delightful Indian waiter who was chuffed with Fraser’s attempts at French. This just put Di and Karen into hysterics.
The sun was starting to set and adding a lovely glow over the Seine, so we slowly made our way to finding the #69 bus stop. Even though we had the day somewhat soured by the delivery process of the bike, it still ended up as a lovely day.
Steps – 14,782
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