It was really neat, though, because they had a choir singing and the organ playing. It was beautiful. The other neat thing about taking a tour during mass, the fact that I could walk behind the alter area and see what was going on. They were swinging the incense and preparing things just like you see in the movies. I was entertained, until the incense started making my allergies act up. That was the end of my snoopyness. So I continued on my tour of the church, taking picutres (without flash, of course). I was able to see their beautifully famous windows...
...as well as all of the side alters. It was crowded though. I can't imagine it on a day in the summer. I am not a big fan of crowds or lines so I usually avoid them. I probably should have spent more time in the church, reading about all of the history, submerging myself in the ambiance, but I just wanted out. I was sneezing and being pushed by strangers, I needed air so I head outside. Kelly and I had seen some people up on the roof of the church when we arrived, via metro, and I wanted to go up there. I love climbing bell towers and church spires so I found the door.....and then the huge line. Kelly was still in mass and I had planned on just sitting on a bench waiting for her. When I saw the line, I figured "why not just wait in line?" So I did. It was a pretty dull experience. The girls in front of me were drinking hot wine which happens to be my all time favorite winter, cold weather drink. I was jealous, but alone in line so I took a drink from the water in my purse and tried to imagine. I also watched people buying crepes from the cafe selling the hot wine. I went with a piece of gum. Finally, after about 45 minutes this man starts dancing around and causing a commotion. Turns out he was our in-line entertainment. This is a picture of him (on the left) posing with a man and his luggage.
There was also a cute old couple walking down the street arm in arm wearing georgous long coats (hers in fur) and the starts yelling "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE PRESIDENT!" Everyone laughs, he catches on and starts waving. It was fun. He also tried to kung fu chop any asian person that walked by. Very un-PC but still entertaining. Kelly finally came around the corner with several other people and then he started acting like their tour guide. Kelly started to break away from the group to join me and he kept trying to direct her back to the other people. I got a good chuckle!So after an hour plus we got to head up the stairs towards the bell tower, home of Quasimoto, of Notre Dame. I love gargoyles. I don't know why, but I think they're cute. Here is one of my favorite...a bored flying monkey-ish type creature. Kelly counted 368 stairs, I counted 384 stairs and google said 317. We're not sure what the answer is and what was or wasn't counted by google but either way, it was a lot of stairs. This picture is on the first stop.
This next picture is from the second level up. We were level with the roofs on the top of the church. There was an amazing view of the city and we were able to enjoy all 360 degrees of it. I just loved the Eiffel tower sticking up out of the busy city. Such a pretty sight.
We also go to go up into the bell tower. This is the home of Quasimoto. We read a little history about him, and let's just say it was a bit different than Disney's version. We also now know why he was huntched over: little doors!
This next picture is from the second level up. We were level with the roofs on the top of the church. There was an amazing view of the city and we were able to enjoy all 360 degrees of it. I just loved the Eiffel tower sticking up out of the busy city. Such a pretty sight.
We also go to go up into the bell tower. This is the home of Quasimoto. We read a little history about him, and let's just say it was a bit different than Disney's version. We also now know why he was huntched over: little doors!
Kelly and I had to take a picture with the Notre Dame roof as our back drop. There is proof we were at the very top!
By the time we were done climbing stairs and taking pictures, it was 2 o'clock and we were hungry. There were plenty of crepe places around so we took a cute looking one and went in. Restaurant Roulette French style was success again. Kelly had a great chicken, mushroom, and cheese crepe (below). I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwhich, excpet the cheese was on top of the bread. Kelly's won the taste award.
There was also mayonaise on the table, presumably for the Dutch tourists. We thought it was funny so we had to take a picture.
Yup, all the way from "California" in Paris, mayonaise for the Dutch. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, via metro, rescued poor Opel from her dungeon of parking, took her on the elevator back up to civilization. It only took us 5 hours to get home and we luckily didn't have any traffic issues...or gas. It did rain a bit, but that isn't anything to new to us in the wet world.
By the time we were done climbing stairs and taking pictures, it was 2 o'clock and we were hungry. There were plenty of crepe places around so we took a cute looking one and went in. Restaurant Roulette French style was success again. Kelly had a great chicken, mushroom, and cheese crepe (below). I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwhich, excpet the cheese was on top of the bread. Kelly's won the taste award.
There was also mayonaise on the table, presumably for the Dutch tourists. We thought it was funny so we had to take a picture.
Yup, all the way from "California" in Paris, mayonaise for the Dutch. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, via metro, rescued poor Opel from her dungeon of parking, took her on the elevator back up to civilization. It only took us 5 hours to get home and we luckily didn't have any traffic issues...or gas. It did rain a bit, but that isn't anything to new to us in the wet world.
Paris was a great experience and there is still stuff for me to do when I go back....whenever that day may be!
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