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Day Three: March 6, 2000
The morning wake up call seemed entirely too early as we struggled to get out of bed. Mary Louise and I went down to the bar where we ate our fill of eggs, ham, pineapple, camembert cheese, and chocolate milk. Then the group boarded our "ghetto bus" and left to see Paris. (explanation for "ghettobus" remark: while we were at the church, a local gang decided that our bus was the perfect place to leave their distinctive graffitti) Aarnaud, our guide for the day, took us around the beautiful city, giving us a bit of background about the buildings we saw from our seats. A few high points include: Les Invalides, the former hospital for the war veterans and now Napoleon's final resting place; the Eiffel Tower, a perfect picture opportunity; the Military Schoool; Place de la Concorde, the site of hundreds of executions during the Revolution; and many more.
At our first stop, Notre-Dame, Arnaud told us about the symbolism of all of the statues carved into the facade of the cathedral. Actually, during the Revolution, the heads of the apostles were cut off and hidden. Later, a man who was renovating his house found the original heads in his backyard. During the Revolution, the people saw the Catholic church as an opressive power and a symbol of the king, so Notre-Dame was left to shambles. Robespierre turned all of the churches in France into his temples of reason, the new official religion of France. Fortunately, Robespierre's religion left France after he was guillotined, and Notre-Dame became a place of Christian worship again. Inside, the fabulous Pieta on the altar impressed me the most. The sun that was shining through the windows cast a rainbow glow on the cold marble surfaces of the inside. A choir from Bernard college performed while visitors worshiped and admired the interior. I went outside and took pictures while skateboarders practiced their moves on this sunny morning.
Arnaud took us to the left bank to shop and eat lunch. Nici, Mary Louise, Nadine, Sarah, Katie, and I ate lunch at a little pizza place, then shopped in the nearby cute stores. We loved Etam, a cute clothing chain that reminded me of Express. I bought a pretty blue necklace and Mary bought a white peasant top. We met Arnaud at the corner, and I watched the construction workers put white parking stripes on the road while I waited. Half of our group was late, which annoyed Arnaud slightly.
Once the group finally gathered together, we walked to Sainte Chapelle, a small chapel for the king and the locals. The bottom floor was hardly spectacular, for this was where the commoners worshiped. However, the top floor took my breath away. Light poured through the stained glass, making me feel like I was floating in a sea of joy. One of the windows was damaged in the horrible storm in December, but this hardly diminished from my visit.
I experienced another kind of awe when we visited the Conciergerie, the place where Marie Antoinette, along with many other prisoners, were held during the French Revolution. I liked the tiny little chapel built in the prision, but the garden depressed me. How could one stand being stuck in such a dismal spot for years on end? Marie Antoinette had a grand apartment compared to the rest of the prisoners, but even it was small and gloomy. The large room where commoners were held was cold and dark, but I got a lot of funny pictures of Courtney, Keely, and Taylor in the fireplace. Our tired little bunch of travelors met in the lobby of the Conciergerie and discussed our afternoon plans. We decided to split up into two groups: One went back to the hotel by way of shopping, and the other decided to continue with out original plans.
We headed to the Musee National du Moyen Age-Thermes de Cluny. Phew. What a name. Anyhoo, so far, this has been my favorite museum. It is the oldest building in Pris- originally the Romans built a huge bath at this location. Remember the apostles that were decapitated at Notre Dame? Well, Cluny has the missing heads! Woohoo! The original frigidarium of the baths is one of my favorite rooms. Nadine, MLB, and I sat there for half an hour just discussing how cool this big open space was... we made grand plans about what we would do with it if we had the opportunity. Nadine and MLB decided that they'd add a pool of plastic balls, a big screen tv, and lots of couches and places to hang out. La Dame de Licorne (The Lady of the Unicorn) tapestry is truly a marvel. Normally, I'm not interested in needlepointing and tapestries, but even I was shocked at the splendor. I forced Nadine and MLB to spend a long time in the room, trying to figure out the symbolism of each of the exquisite panels.
When we walked back to the hotel, we stopped by the bouquinistes, booksellers who sell their wares along the Seine. We ran to the hotel, then ran to the Champs d'Elysee to the Bistro Romain on the lower side of the street. We ate duck, terrine, and tons of bread. Now it was time to hit the shops! We went to Zara, a chic clothing store full of great fashions, along with several other shops. After we were all shopped out, we ran down to the Ferris Wheel and watched the Eiffel Tower glitter in the distance, at an even better vantage point than yesterday!
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