Day 6 was probably a rest, laundry, and cleaning day. We really need those here-and-there or it starts to feel like a job. We actually leave a lot of our days pretty flexible and spur of the moment. It makes us keep our eyes open for new opportunities when we’re trying to round out a day. The archeological dig site under Notre Dame Cathedral was a perfect example of that on this day.
We really went at the best possible time in the last several hundred years. Notre Dame actually had significant fire damage about 5 years ago. As a result they restored everything better than it had been (possibly ever). The paintings had been touched up to look brand new! The paintings looked fantastic! In a future post I’ll show you the difference between a restored painting and one that hasn’t been restored. It’s mind blowing how the restored colors are so much better.
Wow! This is cool 🙂
I think this is a Paris meridian line. I really haven’t looked into this much, but I think the French wanted the meridian line to center on Paris. Kimberley was really into this after we found a possible connection between the cathedral outside of the Louvre and the Paris meridian line. Instead Greenwich is now the Prime meridian.
This is a fun detour that we found after exiting Notre Dame. Many years ago they discovered ancient buildings underneath the square in front of the cathedral. It was really interesting to see how they deduced that the stone walls for the Roman colosseum in Paris were used to make a wall around the isle that Notre Dame and the royal palace sits on. In other words, during the good times they created center for public entertainment, but during the bad times (barbarian invasions) they used the same stones to build walls. That’s thinking ahead!
Lots of entertaining history here.
Another cafe shot. They really stand out and have creative designs.
Another Paris meridian marker (me’s thinks).
K says that Shakespeare & Company is a famous bookstore. Great design about it.
Some stores still have graphic non-text signs to identify business types, just like in medieval times.
This is a fountain we found along the way back.
A fashion shoot in progress!
Our chariot home is on its way.
Made it back home just in time for another Paris sunset.
