We got up relatively early on Friday and parked the car at Saint Germain-en-Laye, got on the second train of the day into Paris. It worked well because we got seats together and stayed seated all the way through to our change point at Les Halles. Arriving at the Cite station (pronounced See-Tay as in Ile de la Cite) we made our way to the front of Notre Dame and started Rick Steve's Paris Walking Tour
Notre Dame is an imposing edifice!
And it takes time to really see it all from all sides.
At the park behind Notre Dame, the walking tour showed us another little know memorial... the Deportation Memorial. It is a remembrance of the 200,000 French who were held and placed in concentration camps by the Nazis. Very stirring building that was small, but affected us like the memorial in Berlin. The hallway is lit by 200,000 crystals, one for each victim.
After that we strode through the left bank and over to the Louvre - which we will tour another day.
Saturday was highlighted by a drive over to Reims in the East part of France - Champagne country. The drive took us longer than expected as the French highway system and maps aren't coordinated well and drivers here do fascinating maneuvers.
Reims also has a "Cathedrale de Notre Dame". This one is somewhat different and a tad smaller, but is still imposing. The stained glass is incredible in all of the churches, but we discovered from Doug and Joan that Marc Chagall did a number of windows for cathedrals in France and Switzerland. You can see his windows on the right.
We tried going to the Mumm Champagne caves, but the tour in English wasn't until late and it seemed a tad too pricey. Our walk back to the vehicle brought a stop at a patisserie for eclairs and ice cream. The drive back went better so we then went to dinner at the Creperie - a wonderful experience and the best meal in Port Marly so far.
Reims also has a "Cathedrale de Notre Dame". This one is somewhat different and a tad smaller, but is still imposing. The stained glass is incredible in all of the churches, but we discovered from Doug and Joan that Marc Chagall did a number of windows for cathedrals in France and Switzerland. You can see his windows on the right.
Sooo glad you've caught up, we're wet and grey at home and your vacation and touring c'est magnifique (okay so that's probably spelled wrong but the intent is there).
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