Walk 1: Paris in Layers

April 27, 2012

What I crossed off my to-do list today:

• Go inside Notre Dame
• Be mistaken for a French person
• Go to the flower market
• Don't get blisters

cute cafe we saw on a little detour.

Our Paris walks book is divided into 21 walking tours of various sites around the city. The first one, "Paris in Layers" is meant to show us the layers of history upon which Paris was built. It gives us step by step directions to get to each stop along the tour and tells us a little bit about the history of what we are seeing. Now despite the directions being pretty easy to follow, we managed to take more than a few accidental detours (and a couple intentional ones too.) But, of course, I think that is all part of the experience. The first official stop was the Hotel de Ville. We see it every day on our way to class, but little did I know that it was destroyed by riots in during the French Revolution and then rebuilt soon after. The Hotel de Ville is where the mayor has his office.
The next stop was the Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation, which is a tribute to those who were deported to Nazi camps during WWII. At first we thought it was just a patch of grass with a little tombstone but then we realized that there were stairs leading down to the monument. I don't have any pictures but if you are ever in Paris, it is free to visit and only takes a couple minutes.
Right across the street from that is the back of Notre Dame. However at this point I was getting a little dizzy so we set off to find a snack. We crossed the river, and there was another bridge with the locks on it. (see earlier post). I found some pretty cool locks.

After our little break we went back to Notre Dame and I met my #1 goal, some American couple wanted their picture taken and they definitely thought I was French. (Probably had less to do with my 'impeccable style' and more to do with the fact that Chloe and I were having a conversation in French.)  I should have messed with them but I didn't. Nate, if you are reading this I am sorry to disappoint you.
So then we came across a bunch of people waiting to go inside the Cathedral so we hopped in line. After about 45 minutes or so of waiting and barely moving, we realized that we were in the line to climb the stairs to the top and that there was hardly any line to get in. Oops. Travel tip, for anyone interested, it costs 8.50 euros to climb the stairs and you have to have exact change. It is free to walk through the cathedral however.

on the left is a detail from the outside of the cathedral, on the right is the inside ceiling.

inside the cathedral you will find paintings, statues, stained glass windows, and lots of candles

Over the last 1500 years, what used to be a Roman temple has transformed into what we now know as Notre Dame. It has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times that what we see today does not correspond to one specific time period, it is made up of bits and pieces from every century.
On the far side of the square in front of the cathedral, you will find a staircase leading you down to a little museum called the Crypte du Parvis. There you will see the remains of an ancient civilization on top of which Paris was built.

Next we took a little detour to check out the flower markets. I really wish my mom could have been there!

i want this darling little pinocchio. i have no idea what i would do with it.

Next we saw the Conciergerie. In the middle ages it was home to the king, but during the French revolution it was used as a prison. This is where Marie Antoinette spent her last hours. You can visit her cell, but beware it is really creepy. Like really. This is the entrance hall-

4 second exposure while I was walking towards the other end-going for a somewhat corinne vionnet-esque look and yes I am a capable photographer and have a plain old boring picture to prove it (below-left).

left: conciergerie, right: sainte chapelle stained glass windows.

After the Conciergerie was the Sainte Chapelle church built in the 13th century to house relics from the crusades. In the picture above, on the right you will see a detail shot of the amazing stained glass windows. Below is a broader view of the church. It was spectacular.

Sainte Chapelle

After this we were told to walk quite a distance just to see the outside of Musee du Cluny, which we are going to see on another tour. We thought that was kind of silly especially since we couldn't find the metro stop and ended up walking in circles around the Sorbonne. Then we just decided to go back to the metro at Saint-Michel where there was a big group making lots of noise.

Not sure exactly what they were doing...I have a video but its not loading at the moment so I may have to add it later, if I remember. For now, ciao!
xo Heather