Today’s pictures on flickr

So today is Halloween. Contrary to most North American cities, it is not obvious here in Paris. There were a couple of restaurants with Halloween and pumpkin themes but not many. No fireworks going off in the streets. Just another Tuesday evening. Nice.

The weather today was so different from yesterday’s sunny, almost summer-like weather. Today it is gray, cool but not quite raining. Too bad. Yesterday would have been a fabulous day for photos of the Eiffel Tower, etc.

We started the day at Cathedrale Notre-Dame. I’ve been telling Bryan whenever we visited over large churches that he would have to remember them in contrast to Notre-Dame which I have always from to be so much darker inside. Notre Dame was built between 1163 and 1330 and is a true Gothic masterpiece with its flying buttresses and towered facade. The interior is dark, even with the addition of subtle electrical lights, and packed with history.

From Notre Dame we deferred our visit to the Eiffel Tower in the hopes that tomorrow is a nicer day. Instead we decided to follow a walking path through the Quartier Latin on the Left Bank of the Seine. We passed a Roman amphitheatre, stopped to have tea amid the sparrows at the Mosquee de Paris, and passed the Univeristy of Paris and The Sorbonne to reach the beautiful Jardins du Luxembourg. It was here that we witnessed some heated chess matches between people of all sorts of ages. Bryan and I would have loved to have sat down and tried each other out. We didn’t dare challenge anyone already sitting as they would have quickly check-mated us. We ended our walk at the Shakespeare and Company bookstore where both of us were lured into buying books.

Dinner and then back to the hotel to change clothes for dancing at a jazz club tonight. The only problem is that we both found our room too comfortable after a long walk and we never left. I am giving into sleep and Bryan has dicovered the world of Philip Roth, the author whose book he just purchased. Tomorrow we really must make a night of it in Paris!

Comments

  • kristie on 07 Nov 15:44

    Paris looks so lovely! I am very jealous and I must make it one of my next holidays! Keep taking the great photos and I am really enjoying the architectural descriptions.