It's our first morning...

Pl. St. Michel

...in Paris. The first item in our itinerary today was to go to the Gard du Nord train station to exchange our paper tickets with real tickets that would take us from Bayoonne to St. Jean Pied Port, where our pilgrimage will start.

There was still a light drizzle as we left the apartment. It was a cold and windy Tuesday morning and the neighborhood hasn't quite woken up yet as we made our way to the metro station.Pardon my ignorance but I was a bit intimidated by the this piblic transport. I can't really describe how labyrinthine the metro system is in Paris. It seemed like endless corridors that lead to other corridors that lead up and down a series of stairs and into another corridor that opens to great hall which leads to even more of the same. As we navigated this transportation system for our first foray into the city, I remembered something very important. I hate stars! I don't know how many flights of stairs we went up and down on and how many times we transferred stations from Abesses to Gare du Nord train station to St. Michel - Notte Dame station but darn, that was tiring! And confusing. And it wasn't even 9 a.m. yet! When they called it the underground, they were not kidding!

River Seine

We arrived at the Pl. St. Michel early for our walking tour of the city. We explored the area a bit and got our first view of the Seine and our first glimpse of Notre Dame. I wanted to shout, "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" out loud but I didn't want to be committed on my first day around Paris. :D

The 3-hour walking tour started at roughly 10 am. Our first stop was of course the fountain of St. Michel where the group assembled, followed by a little history of Notre Dame, a walk along the banks of Seine, the 'love bridge,' the Louvre, the Touleries Garden before ending at the Pl de la Concorde. :P After the tour, we headed back to our apartment for a late lunch and prepared to meet the Eiffel Tower.

Along the Seine River

Saint Sulpice

In the late afternoon we set off for the metro to go to the Eiffel Tower and our Seine River cruise. But first, to the Rose Line in Saint Sulpice. The facade of the church also featured details which were typical of it's era. In short, it was beautiful, if a bit understatef when compared to Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. Sadly,  large portion of the inside were in a state of disrepair but the notices around the church said it was in the process of being renovated. At least, I assume that's what it said. It was in French so for all I know they could have been just telling people to be quiet. :D We stayed for a bit to pray for our trip and our family and friends back home, before emerging into the sunlight

The Rose Line

So, it was off to the metro again where we got off at the Trocadero station and emerged to the wonderful smell of crepes. So, what else is there to do but to sample some, right? So we were eating crepes with bananas and Nutella as we saw the Eiffel tower up close for the first time. We walked down the garden and crossed the street to the Eiffel tower, looking at it from different angles, which took all of 15 minutes. :D The tower was both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. Make of that what you will. Oh, there's definitely a thrill attached to gazing at it up close for the first time, but it seemed to me that it's appeal is more for what it represents. As in, "Whoopee! The Eiffel Tower! I'm really in Paris!" But that's just me. What do I know?

We set off for the river cruise at 8pm and stayed on the roof deck. We saw a lot of amazing architecture. The buildings are the art. Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, the Louvre the numerous bridges and other fascinating buildings, and at the end of the cruise, the light show of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel tower at night is something to behold! Seeing lit up gave me a better appreciation for this massive tower of iron. It just seemed magical to me.  And that's when I came to understand the fascinating appeal of the Eiffel Tower.