Tuesday Morning part 2- Notre Dame

After the "local" Cathedral, I went to Notre Dame. I've only been to Paris two times before. the first time was for work, and I was there for just 2 days, with really no free time at all. I had just graduated from college about 7 months before, and it was such a let down! I had a little taste of Paris but didn't get to see anything. The second time was maybe 6 years ago, and I spent a week there with a former boyfriend. It was a fun time, and I saw a lot, but I was always "following", as he had lived in Paris for a year & had spent quite a bit of time there while growing up as his family lived in France for several years on teaching exchanges. What happens when you go with someone to their "hometown" or in this case, nearly "second hometown" is that you spend a lot of time "following" and doing what they tell you are "the things to do." We would come up from the subway and I had not even located us on the map whenn he was already leading the way to the next thing. Don't get me wrong, we saw a LOT, and it was a great trip, but part of the joy of experiencing a new place is finding your way, and understanding the layout of the city, and finding unexpected things. There is also that issue someone who feels like they are in their second hometown that they don't want to do "tourist things", which is a little tough in a place like Paris. Yes, we went to Notre Dame, but not up in the Bell tower. Yes we went to the Eiffel tower, but not up in it. Yes, we went to the Louvre, but we saw the most famous paintings only. So on this trip I was determined to relax, and do those things, even if they were the "normal" tourist things to do. When I went to the Louvre, I had no plan, I just walked into the first hall I saw, and saw wonderful art, regardless of how famous it is or how many people put it on their checklist.

So on the first full day in Paris, I went to Notre Dame, and stood in line to walk the 422 steps up to the top of the bell tower. Did I mention it was 422 steps? Very steep. It actually wasn't too bad, as there were 3 or 4 places where you could take a little break, the gift shop partway up, a few landings, etc. I took advantage of every landing to stop and look around, take some photos, etc. I saw many people that just skipped the landings and just kept on going, looking VERY winded and out of breath by the time they got to the top!

View from one of the "landings."
Gargoyles watching over the Cathedral.