While Kate was here our neighbors, Jenny and Sande (who are also second moms to Kate) came for a fun visit. Kelly was a bit outnumbered with all the women but I think he secretly loved it. One evening Kate and Jenny put together a yummy croissant and egg breakfast dish that we baked and ate the next morning. The secret was the "everything" bagel seasoning Jenny brought. What a yummy breakfast!
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| Croissant and Egg Casserole |
Jenny had never been to the Orangerie and it is one of our favorite places. Monet painted two rooms of water lilies to be hung in two oval rooms in this building. Downstairs the permanent art collection was closed for renovation so we were a bit disappointed about that.
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| Sande and Jenny with the water lilies |
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| Jenny and Kate |
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| Kate by her favorite panel of water lilies |
Later after the Orangerie we walked through the Tuileries Gardens to Angelina for lunch. This is when Sande ordered the Vol au Vent that I envied. I tried the club sandwich, which was really good, too. And of course we needed that hot chocolate to warm up.
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| Lots of very dark hot chocolate |
We walked down along rue de Rivoli towards the Louvre. We came upon the church just east of the Louvre, Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. I recognized the name from news coverage about Nôtre Dame at Christmas time. Since September, services that were celebrated at Nôtre Dame are now celebrated at this church. It had a beautiful tower.
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| Tower of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois |
We were surprised it wasn't bigger inside. This is where Nôtre Dame's Christmas mass was just celebrated. We wondered where they put everyone. Easter Mass was at Saint-Sulpice, which seems much larger. But this is now the permanent home for Nôtre Dame services.
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| Kate in Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois |
The church was originally founded in 542 according to this plaque. The current building dates from the 15th century and parts from the 13th. I love how old things are in Paris.
We walked from here to look at Nôtre Dame up close to see the effects of the fire.
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| Jenny and Sande |
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| Nôtre Dame |
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| Kate and Jenny |
The Parvis de Nôtre Dame, the square in front of the cathedral is closed off. We wondered how the tourist shops and cafés near the cathedral were surviving. Along the north side of the cathedral they have installed large posters explaining how they are stabilizing the cathedral and the challenges that the experts face in figuring out how to restore it. There were many people looking at the posters and maybe this has helped the businesses along there.
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| Wooden Trusses |
They have added wooden trusses under the flying buttresses to reinforce them and keep them from collapsing. The roof and spire were covered in metal scaffolding when the fire broke out, which was probably caused by a worker's cigarette (smoking had been banned from the worksite). One problem is figuring out how to remove the twisted, melted scaffolding without causing more damage or risking collapse.
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| View of Metal Scaffolding |
There is much work still to be done. We don't see how this could be restored in five years as President Macron hoped.
We walked from Nôtre Dame over the bridge to Île Saint Louis. It was a pretty view from the bridge over towards Hôtel de Ville on the right bank.
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| View of Hôtel de Ville |
Performers were skating on the bridge around Solo cups. Some had roller blades, others old fashioned skates. We enjoyed watching them and all their tricks.
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| Skating between the cups |
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| Watching the Show |
As we crossed the bridge we saw a cute old deux chevaux parked across from the St. Regis Café.
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| Kate and the Citröen 2CV |
We decided we needed a little break from all the walking and Jenny and Sande needed something warm to drink. They were always so cold. They barely survived with their warm coats, scarves and lots of hand warmers and patches. So we decided to stop at the St. Regis, one of our favorites. Below is a picture from when we were here in April 2018 and the weather was warmer.
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| St. Regis |
Sande ordered warm milk with honey and Jenny went for herbal tea. I on the other hand was plenty warm so I ordered an Orangina in the classic bottle and we shared some frites.
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| Orangina |
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| Frites |
We went back with Kate another day and ordered their brunch.
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| Gauffres with Chantilly and Currents |
The waitress was surprised when Kate asked for maple syrup in addition to the whipped cream the waffles were served with. That must have seemed way too sweet for the French!
I think that is mainly what we do in Paris-we walk a lot and then we refuel! We walked over the bridge to the left bank towards our old apartment on boulevard Saint Germain and stopped to view Nôtre Dame and admire the beautiful sunset. It was good to be back in our old neighborhood.
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| Nôtre Dame |
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| Sunset over the Left Bank |
We stopped at our old bakery, Boulangerie de la Tour for some of our favorite palmiers and a little galette du rois. We loved that neighborhood bakery. I miss their tradition baguettes with the pointy ends. They had such good flavor.
I have not been to the Orangerie either, so happy Jenny got to go. Thanks for sharing more information about Nôtre Dame, are the businesses making it? Your picture of Hôtel de Ville is stunning!
ReplyDeleteI think businesses are holding on. Paris really suffered from the transit strikes in December and January though.
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