According to the red book, we had 22 steps for the day's events. I had constructed the red book before we had left home. Every day had been planned with destinations, addresses, telephone numbers, flight numbers, airports, arrival times, etc, from the departure day of May 11 to the return day of May 19--all tucked into clear plastic page protectors. Each day had a schedule page, subsequent pages contained the documents that we might need for that day. The red book had served us well. At hotels, I had pulled out the reservations previously made online; at the car rental when the girl insisted on asking me every question that I had already answered online, I showed her the page from the red book and everything went smoothly. My advice regarding the red book, in the voice of Karl Malden: Don't leave home without it.
But this was Thursday.
We were going to Paris. We would be at Notre Dame by step 3. Step one consisted of breakfast...and we skipped that, going right to step two: RER B to St. Michel/Notre Dame. I had constructed the plan for the days events by going over the Paris map and the Paris metro map. We knew where we were going, and exactly how we were getting there. I just didn't know how long we would be at each destination. I knew the plan was ambitious, but a man's reach must exceed his grasp, n'est-ce pas? We were Maxwell Smart and 99 in the city of lights. What could possibly go wrong?
Notre Dame was fabulous. It was much like the other old churches that we had visited, but even more so--yes, I really mean that.
It was about three weeks later that the hammer-wielding terrorist struck at that location, and many tourists were locked inside the cathedral for much longer than they had planned. I suggest marking the sans marteau box on all tours to this location.
I spent many months in Paris many years ago. I have a clear memory of eating chicken and frites in the middle of the day with a friend from Ireland on a bench near the cathedral.
There was some kind of bread making exhibition going on in a large shelter in the square. We walked through it, but didn't stay long. We had a schedule to keep. On to the Latin Quarter.
Step four had us walking to the Cluny Museum, a distance of a few blocks. I wanted my wife to have that part of the experience of Paris, walking both the grand avenues as well as the narrow side streets. The Cluny is a medieval history museum. We spent a short time there. One room contained the six tapestries of The Lady and the Unicorn. That room held a certain sense of mystery, as if the true meaning of the tapestries would manifest itself to the perceptive viewer. We thought it was cool, but apparently weren't perceptive enough to gather any deeper meaning.
From the Cluny, pursuant to step five, we walked to the Pantheon. Things were proceeding quite nicely.
This massive block of stone is quite breathtaking within. I could see it as a superb location for filming a battle between a character played by Alain Delon, or Jean Claude Van Damme, and some enemy with the weapons being swords and Frankish throwing axes. It struck me as a celebration of the nation, a place to worship the France of the past, its history, and prominent persons. Although there was a picture of Clovis, I must have missed the paintings of those most famous of Gauls, Asterix and Obelix.
Step six of the red book directed us to walk to the Luxembourg Gardens. We deviated slightly from that mandate by going into a souvenir shop to get shirts. The shop was right there, and I knew with our ambitious schedule, if we waited to pick up some souvenirs for ourselves and our kids, we probably wouldn't get any. The young gentleman at the store was extremely helpful. He sold us all of the cheap, over-priced items that we wanted; they were quite nice...and as I couldn't find any stamps or tags indicating the country of manufacture, I assumed they were probably all made in China...but we bought them in Paris; that's what counts.
We set out again for the Luxembourg Gardens. Little did we know that just a short few dozen meters down the street, a trap had been cunningly placed in our path.
Next time: A Day in Paris -- part two
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