Paris - France (Day Three)

The Notre Dame

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would ever get to see Paris. All I ever wanted was a chance to fly to the northern hemisphere and visit just one country before I turned 50. I did that when I went to India, but now I am 50 and in Paris and I feel all my dreams have come true. I have to thank my family for being here. My Dad, my Mum, my sister, Sandra and Amelia for helping me to get here. I also have to thank Vanessa for encouraging me to come here and I don't regret taking her advice!!

Today I decided it was Notre Dame day and if I felt like it would visit The Louvre as well. Well Notre Dame, was basically it. It costs 8 Euro's to see The Louvre and it was free to enter the Notre Dame and well I really wanted to see the Notre Dame. So I did. I walked around it twice and visited the treasury and bought some booklet and a medallion as souvenirs.

In the middle of it all they were conducting a service. It was midday mass. And despite the signs asking for silence. It was virtually impossible with the crowds that passed through and I mean crowds. I nearly didn't go inside seeing the lines but found out the line to go inside was moving very quickly, where as the lines to climb up into the towers was longer and slower and since I had sore feet and the thought of climbing stairs was the last thing I wanted to do, I opted for the inside tour.

I had lunch behind the cathedral and made my way back to the station. As I made my way back with aching feet I found an archaeological crypt nearby. This crypt has ruins in it dating back to the 3rd Century!!

"Under the square in front of Notre Dame de Paris is one of the largest archaeological crypts in all of Europe. Before the 1860s, the area in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame was filled with buildings, some dating to the middle ages.

When the buildings were torn down remnants of foundations and artifacts dating back to pre-Roman times were discovered.

This area on the banks of the Seine has seen human habitation since the early Paleolithic Period, some 500,000 years ago.

Remnants of the Gallo-Roman period, which had been lost to memory, were first unearthed during the renovation of Paris during the reign of Napoleon III. During this renovation digs along the banks of the Seine near Parc de Bercy revealed artifacts that pushed the dates of human habitation into the deep mists of pre-history.

Excavations under the square uncovered parts of Roman ramparts, rooms heated by an system with underground furnaces and pipes, medieval cellars and the foundations of an orphan's hospital."

I then dragged my aching feet back to the train and back to my hotel, where I am sitting now contemplating whether to give my poor feet a rest and get up early tomorrow and go visit the Arc De Triomphe Etoile and walk down the Avenue Des Champs Elysees swing by Place De La Concorde and then finish it off with another river ride and maybe better shots of the Eiffel Tower or just crash! I decided to crash for the evening!! My poor feet are screaming at the thought of more walking.

PS: I forgot to thank good old Kevin Rudd for making this possible as well!! Thanks Kev!!