Wednesday, 27AUG08

We landed this morning at the Paris airport after having our flight delayed only twice. We had boarded late because there was a problem with the planes plumbing in Toronto, then when we landed in Montreal to loaded more people, the main power source crashed when we were almost at the runway. The plane was moving along and then it just stalled. The plane stalled. truthfully, I just laughed, thinking that this was great, the time we need to leave is the time the aircraft won't function at all.

Well, we landed, got off of the plane down the stairs, there was lady in a safety vest who hearded us onto a bus. The bus took us to the terminal where we went through the line and got a STAMP IN OUR PASSPORT!!! We wandered our way to the train station, bought tickets, lugged the suitcase to the platform and rode the train to our stop. Emerging the metro, we found an internet connection to contact the family and confirmed our survival. On to the auberge Jules Ferry (hostel) where we had prebooked online.

Upon dropping the luggage, we took our map and went exploring the town. We stopped at a little cafe where there were some acutal patrons. All the cafes in Paris have limited seating inside and have filled the sidewalk with small tables and chairs (later in the evening you can't pass by, you must step onto the road). So we ordered baguette sandwiches from a very grumpy man (we didn't spend huge money on a bottle of wine or any other 5euro drink).

We exmamined our map and decided to head in the direction of the cathedral Notre Dame. Both of us having an inclination towards churches, it made sense. What a city! It truly is beautiful. The old buildings, the grates on the windows, the cobble stone streets. We made it to Notre Dame before it closed so we stood in line for a while and waited with a group of Italian girls and a German couple to go inside. Naturally, they charged and entrance fee.

The entire church is full of stone spiral steps that lead us only higher and higher. We would emerge at different balcony levels that were not actually balconies but more like landings that they used to install the grotesques (gargoyles). After some intense climbing and photo taking, we climbed back down and entered the sanctuary. It is stunning. All the stain glass, the silo high ceilings, they little caverns all the way around the perimeter of the church. We sat and listened to a little of the ongoing service - and to give the legs a break from descending over 20 flights of stairs in a row.

Searching for a toilette in a tourist area is harder than one would think. There was an admission fee or you had to be a customer. We finally succeded in different restaurant called Subway - who woulda thunk. We also found a quaint little ice cream vendor and another ssouvenir shop with beautiful scarves - purle and blue - before making our trek back to the auberge. What a day. We were dead tired seeing as we didn't sleep the night before and then we had gotten ourselves a serious cardiovascular session.