Paris - days six and seven. The Notre Dame, St. Chapelle, more stairs.

I didn't blog yesterday because I was just too tired. Besides all of the sightseeing we decided we would stay up and watch the light show on the Eiffel Tower. We made reservations for a later dinner at Cafe du Mars, which is only a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, and after we were done we strolled on over. It was close to 10pm and there were a few other people gathered in a park waiting for the light show. Guess what? It's still daylight here at 10pm. No light show until 11pm. We gave up and went home. They do light the tower though, here's a picture:

Still to light out for the light display.

  Yesterday we visited the Notre Dame cathedral but didn't climb the stairs to the top because the line was just too darn long and I didn't want to wait for hours in the hot sun. We just went inside the church itself:

Since Sainte-Chapelle is also on the same island (there are two islands in the Seine, the Ile de Cite and Ile Saint Louis) we decided to visit there next. It is not very big and is hard to see from the streets because it is completely surrounded by government buildings. Inside is some of the best stained glass I've ever seen.

Really, the pictures don't do the place justice, it is incredibly beautiful.

We finally decided to start taking the Metro to some of the places we wanted to see, we had been walking everywhere but it was getting to be a bit too much. What should only be a 30 or 40 minute walk always took longer because we would stop to look at the sights and take pictures. Then, once we got to where we were going it was usually a couple more hours on our feet, either in a museum, or at a place like the Arc de Triomph, which involved being on our feet AND climbing lots of stairs. We made a plan to get up early the next day, take the Metro, and get to Notre Dame before it opened so we wouldn't have to stand in line so long to get to the top. That worked pretty well, except at 9:30 (and the place doesn't open until 10) here was the line:

 The wait in line wouldn't be such a long one except that it is very tight quarters up in those towers and they only allow about 20 people at a time up there. We stood in line for about an hour and a half. At least it was a cool morning with nice breezes.

 Getting to the top is a bit of an ordeal, it's 422 steps, but at least it's done in stages. The first stage is a flight of about two stories, up to where you buy your tickets and any audio guides. Then, it's a grueling trip up to the next part, at least 350 - 380 steps.

 You see this guy on all the postcards:

You're allowed quite a bit of time on this level, photographing all the gargoyles and chimeras, then, you can go into the bell tower where the original bell is. It is no longer used though, the structural integrity is unsound.

 Here I am, squeezing through the door to the bell tower.

 Only about 7 people allowed at a time in the small, original, bell tower. You have to wait for them to come down the stairs before you can go up.

 You then climb up the last flight of steps, quite a few, and you're at the top! The views are stunning, much better than at the top of the Arc.

 

After all of this we had to take the stairs down. We had originally climbed up the left tower (as you face the building) in stages, however, the descent is down the opposite tower and it's done all at once, no stopping, all 422 steps, and my legs were shaking by the time we got to the bottom. After a long and leisurely lunch to fortify ourselves we then set out for the Georges Pompidou center for some modern art. And now for something completely different:

 Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, Otto Dix, and many others.

That's all, I'm done for tonight. Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Louvre and I need to rest up for that.