Thursday, September 5, 2013

Eglise Saint-Etienne Du Mont




It’s 12:30 am and the party is in full swing below our windows!  It was another very warm day in Paris and life is outside and alive!   Jim is sound asleep with earplugs and a sleeping pill; I’m waiting for the end of the party!
We had a great day beginning about 11 am when we caught the Metro to the Pantheon area to visit the church made famous in the Woody Allan movie “Midnight in Paris”.  We’ve been several times over the past two years and always found the doors locked.  This time we checked out the time for Mass and it was open.  We spent an hour exploring the interior of the church and then stayed for the 12:15 pm Mass.  This church is full of history going back to the time of Clovis and St. Genevieve.  Several popes have visited this church to say Mass when in Paris including Pope John Paul II.  The interior features an arch midway that is truly spectacular. 
Leaving the church we got back on the Metro and headed northwest.  We needed to change trains at La Motte Picquet Grenelle Station.  This was within blocks of our apartment last year so we decided to visit our McDonalds Restaurant that is across the street from the station.  There we grabbed a quick lunch and then back on the Metro in another direction all the way across the Seine River to Trocadero which is located directly across from the Eiffel Tower.  Departed the train and entered the Museum of Architecture and Monuments.
Our Paris friends, Nicolas and Maeliss, recommended this to us.  We were amazed at the models of so many famous churches and other public buildings in France.  Very worthwhile and soon we discovered we’d spend nearly two hours.  It was time to get back on the Metro…too hot to ride the Batobus like we’d planned. 
Home by 4 pm, did some shopping and dressed up for our dinner tonight with Yorba Linda friends who are in Paris with their friends for a few days before they go to the Midi Canal for a self-guided boat trip.   We’d decided to meet at a restaurant near their hotel in the Latin Quarter called La Jacobine.  We’d selected four, this one because of the rating on Trip Advisor; then Barbara narrowed it to two and we chose this one. 
We headed for our Metro again, we made six trips today; and soon arrived in the area of St. Michel near Notre Dame looking for the restaurant when we saw our friends Barbara and John.  It was a wonderful three hour dinner and we all had a good time and wonderful food. 
We arrived home by Metro about 10:30 pm and the party began shortly thereafter.  It’s going to be a long night but not my first experience with European’s habit of gathering outside in the heat of the night for sharing good times with each other.  After all, it is their country and I’m a guest. 
Hope you enjoy the slideshow: 

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