Sep 18 (Thursday) – Notre Dame

We didn’t schedule/book anything so it is theoretically a day of leisure. For breakfast we had croissants at a nearby bakery that had won "Best Croissant" in 2018.  The croissants and pain au chocolate were very good. 

In the US there is a stereotype of police officers hanging out at the donut shops.  Here they hang out at the croissant bakeries.  We lost count of the number of police vehicles parked on the street by the bakery.

However, after breakfast we headed out to Notre Dame.  We have visited it a number of times over the years but not since the devastating fire of 2019. 

There was a line when we got there and it really wasn’t moving.  It turned out that today they are having a special mass for firefighters and they were holding up the tourists until they got the celebrants in and seated.

Eventually we were let into the building.  On our previous visits it felt a bit like a cave inside.  The walls and ceilings had accumulated centuries of soot and dust and smoke from candles being burned and the smog from the city around it.  Well, the restoration cleaned all of that off and the entire interior looked bright and sunny and new.  What a change.

We watched some of the ceremony.  Officials and flag-bearers and celebrants filed in.  And the nave was almost full with the congregation. 

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Video 1 of Ceremony
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Video 2 of Ceremony
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Much of the stained glass survived and it is still glorious to see. 

Location of the Crown of Thorns.

Baptismal Font in the Notre Dame.

We took our time wandering around the enormous cathedral and then eventually headed back out.  Before hitting the hotel we stopped to see some of the items in nearby shops. 

After spending some time in the room, we headed out for lunch and wandered around the market that was in the square near our hotel.  Mary bought a couple of blouses and then decided to get a haircut at a nearby salon.  Loved the cut.

The rest of the day was spent working, a quick run out for dinner, and packing.  Tomorrow, we leave for Portugal.