Day 2: Sainte Chappelle & Notre Dame
After our first evening with the tour group, we knew we had made the right decision on this tour. Colleen immediately had our trust and respect with how she handled the group like a pro with everyone's safety and experience in mind! With the tour being what we were relying on for our first European experience, we were very happy with our first night and looked forward to the rest!
Day two started with a quick metro trip over to Saint-Chappelle. Without a hiccup we were all able to travel together and ended up right where we thought we would! At Saint-Chappele, we were met with a pretty hefty line at the door. Our group, along with our Museum Pass led us right to the front of the security line, and we moved right along…we thought that we could get used to that pretty quickly! This stunning chapel is loaded with stained glass! Colleen gave us some insight on the structure evolved and how it was able to support such vast openings to let the light into the building. Right away we were hooked, the history that was before us left us with a thirst for knowledge about it!
A short walk away lied Notre Dame. This massive cathedral was everything we hoped it had been. While walking, the crowd drew more dense as we approached, Colleen proudly displayed her experience by pointing at a couple and shouting "Pick Pockets! These are pick pocketers!" They are out there, but its nice to have someone looking out for the group and can spot them from a mile away! Nobody in our group had any trouble with their belongings throughout the entire trip!
We had plenty of time to look through the cathedral, before our meeting time, we were able to participate in the bread festival that was taking place right next to the cathedral. For just a couple of Euro, we were able to pick from hundreds of pastries for a delicious snack! After the group met back up, we walked the area and were familiarized with what was where and some suggestions for what we might want to do during our free time.
A short walk away lied Notre Dame. This massive cathedral was everything we hoped it had been. While walking, the crowd drew more dense as we approached, Colleen proudly displayed her experience by pointing at a couple and shouting "Pick Pockets! These are pick pocketers!" They are out there, but its nice to have someone looking out for the group and can spot them from a mile away! Nobody in our group had any trouble with their belongings throughout the entire trip!
We had plenty of time to look through the cathedral, before our meeting time, we were able to participate in the bread festival that was taking place right next to the cathedral. For just a couple of Euro, we were able to pick from hundreds of pastries for a delicious snack! After the group met back up, we walked the area and were familiarized with what was where and some suggestions for what we might want to do during our free time.
- Stressed about free time? Don't be! Every time we were let go on our own, our guide stayed at the "release" point until everyone has a plan and all their questions answered! From places to eat or things to see, Colleen and Cary were right there helping us!
Do something "normal"!
|
|
Toto, we aren't in the tourist area any more!"
We were ready to venture out, with the recommendation from Cary, we headed toward Paris' Jewish Quarter for dinner. She had recommended a restaurant (we hadn't thought of asking her what we should eat!) We found the café on the corner, as per Rick's recommendation for eating on a budget, we chose to eat inside versus the more expensive patio. We had our menus, our French language book…and had no idea what we were going to order. 5 minutes passed, 10 minutes…eventually we were going to have to actually order! Nicole had been sitting at a spot where she could see the "specials" sign. I kept asking "what does it say?", she tried to decipher it and just kept saying "something-something, tar tar. I know we don't want beef tar tar!". Thinking she was crazy, I checked it out…nope, nothing on there was recognizable! "
After about fifteen minutes, we decided to just order the Plat D'jour [Plate of the Day] and see what happens! The waiter came to us, probably easily spotting our state of confusion, and asked "do you need help?" in perfect English. YES! He was able to help us with our choice (we ended up still getting the Plat D'jour) and we had a great dinner! This is one of our best dining memories of our trip!
Even with being in Europe and with Colleen for such a short time we were comfortable enough to catch the Metro back to the hotel, no problem!
Even with being in Europe and with Colleen for such a short time we were comfortable enough to catch the Metro back to the hotel, no problem!