Day 5

Tuesday 9/8/09

This morning I missed breakfast and was late meeting Shelly at Notre Dame. It was five euro to go to the top, which was well worth it. Thankfully she had gotten there about thirty minutes before me and was near the front of the line, because the line was extremely long when I arrived. There were so many stairs that I got kind of dizzy going up. The view is very nice from the first level and the gargoyles are pretty neat up close. The bell tower was open so I got a couple nice shots of that and the very top was also open. The view from the very top is really neat. When we got up there we were greeted by ringing bells from another part of the building. When we had taken enough pictures we descended and had lunch. Later today I am having dinner with a distant relative and have bought a bottle of wine for the occasion.

View from stairs of Notre Dame

In a cage

First gargoyle

Gargoyle above us

View of Pompidou

Looking towards bell tower

Bell in the bell tower

The very top of Notre Dame

Looking east

These relatives live near the Eiffel Tower, which is quite far from here but is still walkable. I set out to walk along the Seine, and it only took an hour. I did see a building that was covered in moss and plants. This was a building I think someone mentioned to me before, but I really couldn't believe what they said because the description was preposterous, but now I have photographic evidence and understand. I came to a park and thought to myself, this must be where the tower is. I took a few steps and saw it through the trees. I edged closer onto the grass and took a picture. I noticed that where I was standing and about twenty feet to my left the ground was bare because so many people must have done exactly what I just did. I walked underneath the tower and then sat and watched some old italian sounding men play boccie ball. After about half an hour I set out to find my relatives' apartment.

The apartment was gorgeous; it was wonderful beige stone, high ceilings, and a nice backyard. We had a drink in the yard and got acquainted. They made a phone call to their daughter in NY and we had a nice conversation. They had two pretty dogs, one would jump up if I stopped petting it. They gave me a bottle of scotch, that was rather accidentally acquired by them, and I gave them a bottle of wine. I had a delicious seafood kebab as a main, and soup for an appetizer. I had a really lovely time with them and hope to see them again.

Three of the four roommates went out to a bar when I got back to the room. It was a little pricey, but they are good company. One is from the US and the other is from Nagasaki, Japan. We got back a little before the hostel closed and talked before going to bed.