Paris: Sixième Partie

Somewhere and sometime during my movie and TV series viewing life, I heard someone say that memory changes over time. In the middle of writing all these entries about my short tour of Paris, I began thinking that my recollection of those experiences there might have been (slightly? greatly?) altered because of the two-and-a-half-year gap. Still, I know I experienced them... perhaps the chronology and some minor details may just have been shuffled around... a bit...

Ooops! :)

Nevertheless, moving on with this mini-series! I was making my way to the eastern-most stop of my night visit to Paris: the Notre-Dame Cathedral! This would be the tip of my almost seven kilometer tour route (one way) and where I would make a U-turn and walk all the way back to the bus station (another seven kilometers). En route to Noter-Dame, I kept checking my watch for the time because I needed to be back at Porte Maillot by ten o'clock to catch the 11 p.m. FlixBus to Frankfurt. The excitement to see the cathedral was now mixed with a bit of concern due to time constraints. This was already around eight-ish at night.

So, leaving the Love Lock bridge, I continued to appreciate Paris by night, which was made quite romantic by its lights. I kept walking southeast on Quai di Conti along with other people who were leisurely enjoying the crisp, evening air. Upon reaching Pont Neuf I crossed over to Ile de la Cite, where the Notre-Dame Cathedral is situated. I slowed my pace down a bit to sort of add a little suspense to finally seeing the fictional(?) hunchback's haunt. I think I may have said something  along the lines of "wow" when I saw it!

Before grabbing my camera to take pictures, I took a few minutes to just take it all in. It was simply unbelievable being there. I remember taking a seat on one of the benches in front of the cathedral to continue looking at it... and to also eat the second of the two sandwiches that my Dutch hosts prepared for me before I left Belgium for this trip.

After a few minutes, I then proceeded to take photos of and with the cathedral  while also trying to mentally record some of the architectural details of the building. I was reminded of the intricacies of the Duomo di Milano in italy (although that was more grand in design and scale than this one).

Then I went on my way: off of Ile de la Cite and back on to the 'mainland' of Paris. This time I was headed to the last two sites that I wanted to see: the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe.

... to be concluded ...