Day 3 – Like a phoenix rising from the ashes…

By this point, you can probably assume that we went through our normal morning routine and were ready for the day ahead. Today, our focus was visiting Notre Dame Cathedral.

When we visited Paris in December, they had just re-opened and the crowds were insanely large. This time, we attempted to book a reservation but were not able to obtain one. So, our plan was to head down and wait in line to get in.

We had one last ticket remaining on our Navigo Easy cards, so we took the Metro instead of walking. We disembarked at the Cité station and then headed up. Up, because the station is deep underground in the middle of the Île de la Cité…so, basically in the bedrock below the Seine River. Like some novel line from an Indiana Jones movie, we turned a corner and looked at the series of stairs in front of us: “Stairs…why did it have to be stairs?”

The two of us hobbled our way up, up, up until we reached the top. With a few beads of sweat sneaking down my forehead, we finally saw light ahead.

The Metro exit brought us up right by the flower market. The various fragrances filled the air and the flowers and plants looked beautiful.

We cut through the market to enjoy the view and wonderful fragrances.

We walked up to the corner and then turned the wrong way. But…is there REALLY a wrong way in Paris?

We looped around the block and then headed towards Notre Dame. We knew we were heading in the right direction by the number of people also heading in the same direction.

There was a good-sized crowd out front taking photos and waiting to get in. We found the end of the line and joined it.

The line was very ‘chill’ and actually moved along at a fairly steady pace. It took us about 40 minutes before we were inside. Given the length of the line, we thought that was pretty good.

There was a couple from Québec in front of us. The man was pushing his wife in a wheelchair and asked a question in French to Sue. She was unsure of what he asked, but I was able to help out. We continued to chit-chat while in line – that’s how I found out they were from Québec. I took a picture of them together and then some people stopped to tell them that since she was in a wheelchair, there was a special line that they could use.

We watched as they were able to walk up and practically go straight in. We were very happy for them. About a half an hour later, we saw them coming out just as we were getting ready to enter.

Our first look inside – we were expecting it to be chaotic with all the people:

The crowds outside were excitedly talking about getting in, while the same crowds inside were respectfully quiet. Some people just stood and marveled, some went to a seat and said a silent prayer or just looked around. Others just followed a path around the aisles gazing in all directions.

Having been in Notre Dame prior to the fire, we were astonished at how beautiful it looked. It’s always looked wonderful, but now, with hundreds of years of wear and tear cleaned up, it was stunning. The cleaned and restored artworks were beautiful. The walls and columns gleamed. The brass, silver and gold throughout the chapels glistened.

There were newer art pieces installed along with the ancient originals. Pieces that were previously warehoused or in museums were now back where they belonged. The stained glass windows were clean and had light streaming through them. Beautiful lighting was masterfully added to highlight the stunning architecture. We marveled at the craftsmanship and vision needed to achieve such a beautiful, warm and welcoming effect.

The following pictures will give you an idea of what it looks like, but they truly don’t do justice to all the hard work that brought the Cathedral back to life.

Exiting the Cathedral

We had an amazing visit; well beyond our expectations. It was more beautiful in person than any photo could depict. There is still more work to do before it is completely restored, but I believe that the efforts of those involved will ensure that the cathedral will be there for people to admire for hundreds of additional years to come.

Since it was a nice day, we decided to walk back to the hotel. It gave us a chance to get some fresh air and to scope out the route to the restaurant for dinner this evening.

We did end up walking right by the restaurant and it is much closer than it first appeared to be. It will be a nice walk to get there and back tonight.

For dinner, we are trying a newer restaurant called “Le Jardin Saint-Germain”. We read about it and then saw it on a Youtube video. It’s a small place and the menu sounded good, so we booked a table.

It was about a twelve minute walk to get there and it looked cute from the outside.

On the inside, it was cute and quaint. We were greeted by one of the servers and given our choice of tables. We were then greeted by the owner ‘Christian’ and ordered our meal. There was a steady stream of people coming in and by 7:00 pm it was full.

Despite being full, it wasn’t too noisy. Just normal level conversations and an occasional cough or sneeze.

We started our meal off with a shrimp cocktail served with grapefruit slices and avocado. I went ‘sans avocado’. It was tasty and a great way to start. Next, we both had the duck confit with garlic roasted potatoes. Both of us thought it was fantastic.

My favorite part of the duck confit was when the server told us that it is slow roasted and seasoned from the beginning, so it is perfectly fine to pick up with your hands to finish it off – just like home!

For dessert, we shared a Pain Perdu or ‘Lost Bread’. The name comes from the act of saving the bread that wasn’t finished to turn into a dessert. It tastes like French toast, but is served with a dollop of ice cream (pecan praline) and some fruit coulis.

No fancy, schmancy wine list here. Just a few selections, including our Loire Valley Pinot Noir. Patte de Chat means cat’s paw. It was a lighter, more fruit forward pinot, but went great with our meal.

We enjoyed dining there and would definitely recommend it to others.

Afterwards, we took a nice walk back to the hotel to settle in for the evening. It was a great night for a walk with a big bright moon shining in the sky.