Paris, Je T'aime. {Day Four}

“I guess it goes to show that you just never know where life will take you. You search for answers. You wonder what it all means. You stumble, and you soar. And, if you’re lucky, you make it to Paris for a while.” 

― Amy Thomas, Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light

Writing yesterday's post a day late...I knew this posting business wouldn't be "easy." Yesterday had so many occurrences it would have been tricky business making sure to include everything.. or at least as much as I can recall...;) 

After getting out of the apartment, our first item on the agenda for the day was Notre Dame...after alighting from the metro we were privileged to hear the delightful ringing of the bells- I was reminded of the wedding bells in The Sound of Music. 

We soon found ourselves in front of one of many enormous old buildings, complete with beautiful architecture. Alexandrea and Mama wanted to pick up some stamps; they and Grace-Hope went into bureau de poste, while Daddy and I waited outside to snap some pictures. 

Soon.. we asked directions to get to the church. The sunlight was filtering through the clouds, creating a happy pattern on the pavement; the leaves crunched under our feet... and Notre Dame rose high above us. We looked up in awe at the multi-colored stained glass windows. Honestly, I cannot describe them enough. I think, though, the one that struck me most was the south rose window, and how, in the audio commentary we listened to, all the purple in the window represented how we look forward to the return of our L-rd Jesus~ 

The second chapel we went to view was the Sainte Chapelle. Now those stained-glass windows actually told a story...in order, the books of Genesis through Esther; and the rose window held all of the "major" events in Christ's life. Though it was a much smaller church, it was beautiful in its own accord; and we stayed there just looking for several minutes. 

We took our time perusing the street and all of its novelties, and then had a bite to eat at a small snack shop- I don't remember the name. The crêpes were not as good as Aunty Eunice's, but the atmosphere when my daddy's soda came was hilarious; they lit a firecracker (one that didn't explode, obviously), stuck it in the orange, and let it smoke in our faces...;) Grace-Hope was quite thrilled. And they had rose petals on the table- that alone made me happy. 

I was extremely excited to visit our next place: Shakespeare and Company, an English bookstore. For those of you who know me, you'll know Shakespeare is one of my loves- and acting (him in particular) is one of my passions. This shop was marvelous. I purchased a couple of books on French fashion/style- my favorite. Not too much to do with Shakespeare,  but as we climbed the stairs into the reading room (where you read books that are not for sale or rent, which was something else I liked), we heard the sound of a piano. "They have a piano!" I almost screamed. I immediately sat myself down, and began to play- ah, I've missed my music the past few days! I had a small audience after a few moments, which made my life. "Merci boucoup!" They smiled. My heart jumped for joy! 

By this time, it was nearly half-past six, so we took the metro back to our quarter, and readied ourselves for the night.

….............