The Louve and Notre Dame

Lisa and I got up about 8:30 am and decided that we would go to one of the places we wanted to see the most.  And that is the Louve.  Also high on our list is Versailles.  But because we got up later than we wanted we decided that it would be the Louve today, Versailles tomorrow.  So this was another day of firsts.  We went accross the street to go to the tabac which is a little store/cafe that sells metro tickets, stamps, cigarettes, newspaper and snacks.  We had reviewed the map of the metra stop that would drop us off right in front of the louve.  It was line 7 and the same line that is closest to the apartment.  We got to the louve and showed them our museum pass to get in.  Everyone had to go though security which is a good thing.  we only had to put our purse or backpack on the conveyer belt.   We got to the admission gate and Lisa thought maybe it would be a good idea if we got the auto guides. So she went back to the ground level and purchased two set for us.  They were only 6 euros a set.  It took us some time to figure out how to use the machine but once we did we felt the auto guide was well worth the money as we learned so much about the paintings, sculptures and artifacts.
There is so much to see in the Louve and although the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo seem to be the main high lights, their are many other great works by great painters, like Michaelangelo, Rafael, El Greco, Goya, Velesquez, David, Gainsboro, Coret, Turner to name a few.  We saw some fantastic Greek, & Roman statues and reliefs. The museum was crowded as this is the day of the week(wednesday) when schools take their cultural field trips and also, sportif activities. We were there for a good 5 hours and we were beginning to suffer from painting lag so we decided to call it a day there and go see Notre Dame which was about a mile and half walk.   It was gloomy and drizzling out but our spirits were high with excitement.  We passed the St Chappelle church which is withing the chamber of justice complex.  It is pretty well surrounded by the building.  My french teacher said don't miss it but it was getting late and Notre Dame would not be available after 6 pm.  Notre Dame was spectacular.  They were having an afternoon mass so we were able to sit in the chairs and listen to a soloist sing some of the service and listen to the priests give the service in French.  We were able to hear the pipe organ which is suppose to be one of the largest pipe organs in the world.  We walked around the side aisles of the church and admired the rose window, other stained glass windows, the architechture and a series of reliefs that provide scenes from various important events that happened after Christ rose from the dead.  Out side is marvellous too as all the statues, gargoges, relief scenes and flying butresses that support the building.  From studing about Gothic architechture in College I know that in all those statues, relief pictures. gargogles columns, there is  a lot of symbolism that is potrayed though all those decorations that the visitor or church goer has no understanding or knowledge.
It was getting dark when we left and we decided it was time to have something to eat.  So going in what we thought was the right direction we found a little brassier that  had a menu that was in part English.  We had a small but delicious meal and tried to figure out how to get back to the apartment.  I was now about 8 pm.  We did ask the waiter directions and he led us in the right direction, where as if we had not asked him we would have gone a different direction.  Although we were going  in the right direction after we left the brassier we did take a cab the rest of the way home.  This was not to expensive as it only cost us 6.3 euros.
We are now in the apartment and have studied the maps for the best way to get to Versailles.
One last important thing I want to mention.  At 4 am,  John called me to tell me that he was safe at home in Chicago.  It was about about 8pm his time.  I also talked with him this evening after we got home and it was 2 pm there and 9 pm here. He is happy to be home and not having to worry about offending the French or trying to find something he would enjoy eating.