Paris Day 8 Tuesday: Notre Dame and the Birds
Many people checked out of the hotel or will tomorrow. Some spouses and families are following the route and heading to Loudeac. Some are going on to Brest. My impression from talking to the spouses and other family members of the riders is that people are traveling: into Paris, around France, other areas nearby in Europe and even to England for the next few days. We shall see how many supporters stay at the hotel and use it as their base. That’s what I’m doing with the girls.
After a leisurely breakfast and a quick visit to the hotel’s playground we set off for Paris in surprisingly beautiful weather following last night’s rain. This was our first trip in without James and we all felt it a little. The girls mentioned that they felt sad that Daddy couldn’t come. However, they were very excited with the plan to take a boat ride down the Seine from the Eiffel Tower to Île de la Cité to see Notre Dame, and possibly Saint Chapelle, before visiting the little park called Square de Vert Galant located under Pont Neuf. (By starting at Notre Dame we would be walking back toward the boat and the return home.) Notre Dame is my favorite building in the whole world and this would be my third visit to see it. Ashley and Caitlin know that churches are people go to learn about Jesus and they were looking forward to seeing it. They had an image of the façade in their little album to give them something to look out for and they also knew of the potential of a playground.
The trip in was a lot of fun. After the three of us heaved a big sigh of relief that the path was clear of slugs and snails we made our way to the bus stop and met Cindy, Ruth, Ruth’s daughter Teresa and Laurie, all from Ontario, Canada. I had spoken with Cindy and Ruth a few times at the hotel. They girls really took to Teresa, who is 12 years old. Caitlin particularly enjoyed spending time with her. They were all heading in to stay in the Latin Quarter of Paris while their menfolk rode the Paris-Brest. So we rode the train together and had so much fun chatting and getting to know each other better. Teresa read to the girls for the entire train ride, which of course was a huge hit (and gave me some time for interesting adult conversation). We parted company just before the girls and I reached the Champs the Mars stop for the Eiffel Tower.
After a quick snack of baguette and chocolate spread (my plan to keep supplying small amounts of food to avoid crashes) and we made our way to the Batobus Stop behind the Eiffel Tower and under the Pont d’Iena. With our receipt from our visit to the Musee D’Orsay last week I secured reduced fares on the boat ride (I’d learned about the little deal online when planning our itineraries).
Even with the reduced fare I was later to decide that while I would definitely take another boat ride in the future I wouldn’t use the Batobus again. The seating was enclosed, unlike the other little cruise boats that we saw on our trip along the Seine. Other boats offered both covered and open air seating. Also, the Batobus did not sail around the Allée des Cynes, where the small replica of the Statue of Liberty is located. I was disappointed about that. The other boats I had research pass this noteworthy spot and I had made the mistaken assumption that the Batobus did too. While the other boats had maps of their route online the Batiobus didn’t. I only realized I wouldn’t get to see Allée des Cygnes after I’d paid for the tickets and received a map of the route.
Nevertheless, I made the most of it and enjoyed the simple pleasure of taking the boat ride with Ashley and Caitlin who absolutely loved it. I pointed out the Musée D’Orsay to them and the Louvre and they seemed pleased to know they had been to one and would go to the other to see the Mona Lisa. At Île de la Cité we climbed up the old steep stone stairs from the river and waked to Notre Dame. I decided to approach it from the rear so that we could best see the cathedral in all its glory with its amazing flying buttresses. The area around Notre Dame is pedestrianized which enabled the girls to get out of the buggy and run around a bit. On the south side of Notre Dame we found the little playground where we had another snack and the girls spent time on the little structures. They seemed to get the most enjoyment from chasing the numerous plump pigeons in the area. It was fun to watch Ashley and Caitlin’s effort to coax the pigeons out of the grass when they fled there from their little tormentors. I was very proud of them for remembering that in Paris grass is for admiring, not for walking on. A German lady sitting on one of the benches that surround the playground picked up one of the pigeons so that Ashley, Caitlin and another little girl could stroke it. Oh, the thrill of it all 
Needing to find a toilet for Caitlin, we followed the directions of an older French lady who directed us towards the area in front of the façade. I wasn’t completely surprised to discover a line of impossible length for any reasonable wait. (We had run into the same situation at the Eiffel Tower.) Fortunately, I am no amateur when it comes to problem solving around bathrooms with the girls. Having pull ups along for emergencies has become an indispensable fix for such problems with lengthy lines.
After happily matching the façade of Notre Dame with the image in their albums, the girls noticed the scores of pigeons on the ground in front of the cathedral. They joyously ran through them a few times before I pointed out an older man feeding the chickadees that sat in their hundreds amongst the bushes by the benches in the central square. After an initial attempt by the girls who found the birds feet to be “too pokey” on their hands, they were content to watch me feed the birds. With a little instruction from the older man I was soon surrounded by many little chickadees landing on, or hovering around my fingers to nibble a morsel of bread. Caitlin delightedly took photos of the scene and was pleased with herself when she took a photo of my hand with the façade of Notre Dame in the background.
Eventually, when I felt a few drops of rain starting to fall, we thanked the gentleman for his instruction and made our way towards Saint Chapelle. (I hadn’t planned to bring the girls inside unless the unlikely situation arose of their being a small line of people. There wasn’t. I was fine with that. I’ve been inside before and will undoubtedly return again, and at some point in the future I would like to climb to the bell tower and see the crypts. But I left content.) I brought out some little Kinder Surprise eggs again today and they enjoyed playing with the little toys they found inside. In the end I decided to give Saint Chapelle a miss, because while the line was not dreadfully long the rain drops were still falling lightly. I did enjoy walking by the Palais du Justice and seeing the spires of Saint Chapelle. Île de la Cité is the original centre of Paris and the walk around the area was charming enough that, having seen my Notre Dame, I simply enjoyed the walk, which took us to the beautiful and oldest bridge in Paris: Pont Neuf. We walked across it and under it on both sides of the Seine and rested at the picturesque, and practically empty, little park Square du Verts Galant. Again, the girls chased pigeons, admired the flowers and, although they really wanted to run through the grass, showed great restraint and remained on the paths.
We took a final walk along the Quai du Louvre admiring the southern view of the Louvre as we walked along its length eating ice-cream. Then we boarded the Batobus at its stop by the Louvre and made the journey back to the hotel. The girls fell asleep on the train but revived for dinner at the hotel before bed. I have to say I was amazed and proud of just how well the girls listened and behaved today. The jetlag seems to be lifting and although we have normal situations to tease out for their ages, they really are a joy to be out and about with. At times today it felt almost surreal but magical that I spent my third visit to Notre Dame sharing some of its magnificent beauty with my two daughters.