After soaking in the beauty all morning, we went for a stroll on the Ile de La Cite, right on the banks of the Seine.
Yes. I wanted to touch the seagulls, but I refrained.We came up at this bridge.
At Notre Dame! It was all decorated for its 850th anniversary. That's right. The old gal looks pretty good for 850, doesn't she? There was an enormous platform staged on the park in front of the portals. The crowds were teeming about it by noon.
I'm not sure about the significance of the holiday football goal at the entry. We passed on to the park at the other end.
And made our way out to the bridge of lovers, to the right of park. And ran into a couple posing on their wedding day.
We looked for the lock we left last year, but couldn't find it. We vowed to come back and put a new one someplace more conspicuous.
And made our way to the Rive Gauche. The Left Bank is always a surprise. It goes from deserted medieval narrow streets...
To a bustling tourist center.
We were getting a bit peckish, so we nosed around and found this place:
When the owner saw us eyeing his wares, he popped right out and invited us in.
And we happily obiliged.
After a delicious lunch, we stumbled back out into the streets to browse some more. And admired all of the Christmas decorations.
Note to self: Copy this next year. You can swap his gear out to Mardi Gras after the Epiphany.
I could roam the streets of the Left bank for days.
But the day was winding down.
So we made our way back in the dark. Past Notre Dame, to the Metro and the Troccadero to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Back to the Etoile to rest up for tomorrow's journey to Sacre Coeur.
