July 13: Pacing through Paris

Another sleep-in morning, particularly for the kids. Beth and I did pop out earlier to find a local patisserie (bakery) recommended by our AirBnB host called Bo & Mie, where we bought some fresh baguettes and croissants. From another grocer, we also got some soft French cheese, plus some petits pots (little jars) of Nutella and peanut butter, to complement the breads.

As we were getting ready, we read out loud a chapter from the last book in the Lily series by author Nancy Rue, called “Lily’s Passport to Paris”. Pretty timely!

Thane wasn’t ready to head out when the rest of us were, so he exercised his option to stay behind at the flat, with plans to join up with us later. Four of us, therefore, went on a walking outing northward toward the community of Montmartre - the name literally means the Mount of Martyrs. (Beth and I stayed at an AirBnB flat in this area 8 years ago: it was my first ever Paris trip, shortly after my stepfather David’s death. Our flat at that time was a couple of blocks away from the infamous Moulin Rouge.) Climbing up to the top of that mount in the heat of the day (up to 37 degrees C) may have, at moments, made us wonder if we were close to joining those martyrs! (Just kidding…)

Our destination at the peak was the Sacré Coeur (“Sacred Heart”) Basilica. This famous Catholic Church was built over 135 years ago; at the entrance a sign celebrates the fact that people have been praying here on a continuous basis, day and night, for that many years. We too joined the faithful to take a moment to pray inside, and be blessed by the cool shade there. In the impressive dome ceiling mosaic was inscribed a latin phrase that translates “To the sacred heart of Jesus - France devoted, penitent and grateful”. What would the world be like if all peoples, including those of France and Canada, would have this as their prayer and posture towards God?

Leaving that sacred place into the heat outside, our physical thirst seemed to supplant our thirst for God, so we got some soft drinks from a local vendor. We also bought a little heart-shaped padlock to add to the chain-link fencing, as a celebration moment for our 25 years of marriage! (Apparently local authorities have cracked down on the installation of these ‘love locks’ at bridges over the Seine; the sheer weight of the thousands of locks threatened the bridge integrity.)

Reid and Luke were next approached by an enthusiastic and fast-talking street vendor, who somehow within less than 3 minutes gave us each friendship bracelets and ‘swindled’ us out of 5 euros. Beth was concerned that these bracelets might flag us for more swindlers, so we soon cut them off. Faith topped off our time in Montmartre with a request for all of us to ride a merry-go-round, which had the unique feature of having two storeys.

Thinking we were needing a proper meal soon, I got Google to identify a cafe on what appeared to be the coast of the Seine river, and we headed in that direction via the Metro. We got off at Hotel de Ville (city hall) - another impressive structure, appropriately decorated with French colours. There were also big rings installed there, announcing the upcoming Paris Olympics in 2024.

Nearby we found an outside table at Cafe Marguerite, which didn’t have a great view of the Seine after all, but was in the shade and didn’t reek of cigarette smoke (one of the challenges here). We ordered some classic French fare including ‘croque monsieur’ for Luke (like grilled cheese sandwich but includes ham), and a cheese plate plus escargot and frog legs for Beth & Reid. Frog legs were a first for all of us; they tasted a bit like a cross between whitefish and chicken wings. Luke bravely tried both the legs and the snails, and thought they both tasted like “nothing meat”. Faith had cheese pizza. Thane joined up with us toward the end of the meal, in time to sample the last bite of grenouille.

We crossed the Seine over one of the 37 bridges that cross the river in Paris. This led us right toward the famous Notre Dame, but access to the cathedral is much reduced at the moment due to a devastating fire that occurred there in April 2019. Restorations are underway, but are not forecasted to be complete until 2024. Being such a national landmark, the French president recently declared that everything would be done to restore the structure to its former glory. Pretty interesting for a political leader to make such a claim for a religious structure, but it illustrates how Notre Dame is more than a church to many of the French. It has resulted in some controversy about what the new interior will include: some groups have allegedly advocated for some pretty modern and unorthodox ideas, others have countered such ideas would take away from the sacred space and history. Time will tell.

We then walked along the Seine toward the Louvre museum. Some online reading had suggested it might be open late on Wednesday evenings (better access with fewer crowds) but it turns out this currently happens only on Fridays. This was disappointing, but we will come back.

I aimed to take us via a surface level bus back toward our flat, but the bus was frustratingly late. To make things worse, we had run out of our water supply. Tensions were high in our group.

I decided to keep us walking, via a region called Les Halles; many shops, cafes, and great people-watching. We made a grateful pause for flowery-shaped gelato cones outside the Centre Pompidou - a museum for modern art.

After another 20,000+ step day, we finally got back to the flat. We read another chapter of Lily before bed.