Another gray and rainy morning greeted us, but our spirits were high as we prepared to head out on another adventure.  We were help up briefly by Caroline’s dresser’s “clothes ghost” somehow, as the door locked itself shut and she couldn’t get dressed. After some heroics (and brave ghost busting) from sister Caitlin, we were off.

To help orient you, here are two maps showing our position in Paris.  Below shows where we are living – 61 Avenue de Saxe… a straight shot down from the Eiffel Tower.

[You can click on the maps for a better look.  Just hit the back arrow to return]

And here is a close rendition of our Day 3 amble through Paris. 

We Started our walk down Rue de Sevres which boasts one of the most exclusive shopping areas in the city.  In 1852  Paris’ first “department store” opened here. The Bon Marche, built of steel and iron not unlike the ugly Eiffel Tower, was designed to give shoppers an inexpensive, one-stop place to find most everything they need.  It’s no longer inexpensive but it’s a great place to see and be seen.  Today – being May 1st, Labor Day, everything is closed.  Lucky for papa – he can save a few Euros.

You can see the streets are empty on this holiday that celebrates the workers.  This is the beautiful square where Rue de Sevres meets Rue de Babylone and crosses Boulevard Raspail.

This is the second oldest church in Paris called Saint-Germain-des-Pres.  It’s a beautiful old church with a wonderful neighborhood feel all around it.  Two very old and famous cafes look out onto this courtyard.  A cool place to hang out.

The old – and today very crowded cafes were a bit imposing for us, so we continued down Boulevard Saint-Germain and found ….  wait for it…. it’s famous…. The Croissanterie!  The Paris equivalent to Panera Bread.   But it was a nice late morning lunch! Here we made our lunch pact – No Complaining About Walking Too Far And Feet Hurting.  If we could keep this pact, the next few months would be easier!

Finally we arrived at the River Seine – excited to cross the famous Pont Nurf.  This is the place where all of the children of Paris throw spongy balls at the boats as they come out from under the bridge…. at least that’s that what the guide book I got in the Frosted Flakes told me.

        After crossing the bridge to “the island” (which was hard for Erin to understand) we walked along the river and tried to figure out what these huge rings were for. They are worked into the walls on either side at regular intervals.  Erin thinks they’re for tying up boats or horses. Any body have a guess…. ? Well after a short Google search, Erin was right.  The rings were used to tie huge river barges to the docks!

We finally reached Notre Dame.  It’s a really big church. The kids were awe struck. Lucky for them. It helped make the wait to get in less painful.
I guess people still think churches are important for weddings. Or perhaps they’re just showing off an expensive dress…. Nevertheless they are getting their picture taken in front the the 12 Apostles.  That’s gotta count for something.Upon entering the cathedral you are greeted with a true sense of awe… They broke ground on this project in 1163 and had the inaugural mass 200 years later.  Thousands of men, working for next to nothing so that their great, great, great, great grandchildren would have a place to worship.Wow…  The photos aren’t great – you gotta see this yourself!!

This statue of Joan of Arc (1412-1431), dressed in armor and praying honors the teenager who rallied her countries soldiers to drive the English invaders out of Paris.  She was burned at the stake by the British who claimed she was a witch.  The French were rightfully angry about this but it wasn’t until 1909 – right here in Notre Dame – that she was beatified.  Caroline thought this chick was awesome.  The Rose window above is located across from Joan.  It’s the only one remaining with its original, medieval glass.

It’s difficult to really get good photos of the church.  This is a wooden model in a glass case. I thought it best shows what the building looks like.

After leaving the church, we strolled around back through the gardens for a family photo shoot.

      From here we began out walk home by crossing the Pont de l’Archevêché. This is one of the many bridges in Europe that has become a place for lovers to express their never-ending devotion.  Wikipedia states: “In Paris, The  Town Hall in May 2010 expressed concern over the growing number of love-locks on the Pont des Arts, Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor and the Pont de l’Archevêché bridges, stating: “they raise problems for the preservation of our architectural heritage”.  The lovelocks of the Pont des Arts mysteriously disappeared during the night of 11 May 2010, but the Administration denied responsibility, until it was discovered that they had been removed by a student of the nearby École des Beaux-Arts to make a sculpture.^[7] Love locks immediately began appearing on the Pont de l’Archevêché.”

We headed home – now moving a bit more quickly but not complaining about our feet hurting – through the Luxembourg Gardens. A most beautiful place that we will return to, for sure.

At 4:00 (16:00) it was time for school.  Caroline meets with her teacher, Megg Lynch from Waterville Valley Academy, every day for two hours or so via Google hangout. While she’s doing that the rest of us study as well!

A Terrific Day 3!