Paris

Our overnight flight from Washington DC (Dulles IAD) on Air France was about an hour delayed, but we passed pretty quickly through Customs. We wandered around a bit trying to figure out how to buy tickets for the regional rail, the RER, and finally we hopped an express train to Paris. We had to transfer to the subway station. We got some glares about our luggage, but we arrived at the Saint Germain de Pres stop with no problem. We checked into our hotel, the Hotel La Perle, which is located about four blocks from both the Saint Germain de Pres and Mabillon stations. After checking in and briefly freshening up, we decided to head out. Before we left, we decided to ask the front desk to make an earlyish dinner reservation for us at Brasserie Lipp, which is located just around the corner.

After stopping for a quick lunch of crepes, we proceeded to walk toward the Seine. Lucky for us, it was a beautiful, cool day, with not a cloud in the sky. We meandered over to the Right Bank, and stumbled upon the backside of the Palais de Justice. We were looking for the entrance to the Sainte-Chappelle, so we walked past Notre Dame, and to the other side of the Palais de Justice, where we saw young barristers in their robes and wigs. Finally we realized that the entrance to the Sainte-Chappelle was actually inside the Palais de Justice compound, so we passed through security, and found ourselves at the chapel entrance.

The Sainte-Chappelle is known for its stained glass windows, but many of the windows and artwork were undergoing extensive renovations. The windows were still spectacular, but it was very obvious that they would be even more so once the restoration is completed. Oh, well. Next time.

We headed over to Notre Dame next, and took some pictures of the outside before heading inside. Our intention was to stay for the 6:15 mass and it was already 5pm. We walked around, looking at the artwork and statues, and I lit a candle and said a little prayer. We decided to see if we could climb to the top to see the gargoyles, but they closed at 5:30 pm (this information was different on their website). We walked around the back of the cathedral, and hung out for a while in the park, enjoying the day. We decided to head back inside and look around some more before mass.

At around 5:45, vespers started, and many children were singing a capella in French. We were a little confused as to what was happening because we weren't expecting anything before mass. We sat there and listened to the beautiful melodies, and found ourselves being lulled to sleep! I guess the jet lag was starting to catch up with us. We decided against staying for mass, and decided to walk back to our hotel.

We took our time getting back to the hotel, confirmed our 8 pm reservation at Brasserie Lipp, and relaxed for a bit before heading out to dinner. The specialty of the house is charcroute, which is an Alsacian dish of sauerkraut covered with pork products. I decided to go for that, and laughed at the massive amounts of meat on my plate: 2 kinds of sausage (one was a frankfurter), pork loin, ham, and bacon. Matt decided to go with the duck, which was nice and crispy. Both of our dishes were plentiful and delicious. We decided to forego dessert and head back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.