Bon Jour, Paris

To Paris, the city of dreams..

An afternoon that started at the setting of Victor Hugo's masterpiece.. yes, the Notre Dame cathedral.. with its many faces of saints and devils that stare down from the walls while the grotesque gargoyles watch over the city! Standing as a testimony of time, this Gothic monument was built in the 12th century, destroyed during the era of French Revolution and restored later. On entering the cathedral, the view of the long pathway filled with chandeliers and the beautiful tainted windows is a sight to behold. After lighting a candle there and sending a million prayers up to heaven, I went ahead and up above, on my either side were the stunning rose windows. A backward gaze to the West gave a view of the third famous rose window obscured by the giant organ. More than a cathedral's sanctity, the gothicness of this place somehow left a tint of dark mystery in my mind.

The first sight of Notre Dame cathedral

The west facade.

Prayers

The lovely chandeliers and the stunning tainted windows..

The famous rose window..

Them.. the gargoyles!

The weighing of souls! 

View of the flying buttresses!

The famous Maison Berthillon ice cream and some French lunch being our next major destinations, we decided to leave the cathedral. Well, the lunch had to do away with some experiments on frog legs though. Later, on that windy afternoon in Ile St Louis, under the scorching sun, we sat gorging on the melting flavours of passion fruit, mango and caramel. Not so far away from there, hidden away in a corner, was one of those oldest bookstores "Shakespeare and Co" with it's rare editions of many a books of the past. The world I entered to was a book lover's paradise, with all its magical spell under an antique roof and an attic like library where I ran fingers through the yellow pages of the same books that someone from the late 19th century would have held in his hands. In one dingy corner bed, there was a person enjoying his afternoon siesta even! I just wished I had more time to spend there in that wonderland .. maybe I will come back some day to this place.. find my comfortable corner and read from those tattered pages of the past.

Street musicians.. 

Lunch on a windy afternoon!

Respite!

N the famous 'glace'! 

Seine from Ile St Louis!

That wonderland!

The "rare books" section 

Absorbed.. camouflaged! 

A quick peek inside!

Time was running out as we had the Musee d'Orsay plan still on. We scurried to the metro, reached there and what a bummer! Entries for the day were done already. That called for a quick detour to Arc de Triomphe, the standing epitome of French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. But, what interested me was the "Elysian Fields"(not the Megadeth song!) on the the other side of the road. Champs Elysees - a name that gave me a fit of nostalgia. A place I recognised from the first story of my eighth grade English class.. of "The Diamond Necklace". This place was always part of my Parisian dream, the first abstract taste of high life! Well, well..the high street fashion brand shops were only meant to be window shopped though. With the sun setting in, we stopped by one of those lovely cafes named George V. A cup of cappuccino and a deliciously soft cheese cake dipped in raspberry sauce were just what I wanted to wake me up from my reverie while I kept staring at the maple leaves against a cloudy sky.

Arc de Triomphe! 

At Arc de Triomphe again!

The Elysian Fields! 

Sigh!!

Should I say more.. 

Arc de Triomphe against a brilliant sky!

After sauntering on the avenue till sunset and making a note of the heavy price tags, we made our way to Sacre' Coeur on Montmartre. On the way to the cathedral on the hilltop, we stopped by for some souvenir shopping and were again lured by the aroma of freshly baked cookies and colourful macarons. At the end of a long way uphill, instead of a silent cathedral, what welcomed us was a concert and a huge crowd cheering for the band. That was a pleasant and enjoyable surprise. Later, we found our way into the cathedral and I was again taken aback by the contrasting silence inside. I shut down my camera and took a walk around trying not to disturb the peace within while the soothing church music started flowing by. On one side, there were three women sitting on the floor, holding onto each other, praying to Mother Mary. It somehow brought back memories of a time at P.C. sir's, waiting for the bus at Lourde church. Next to one of those benches, I knelt down, just closed my eyes and listened. "Christ in Majesty" stared down on me from the apse while an inner tranquility filled my mind.

And that luring bakery on the way to Sacre' Coeur! 

Oh ok.. that was the first sight of Eiffel! 

Ummm...yumm.. macarons!

Souvenir !

That beautiful cathedral.. Sacre' Coeur!

N the gig outside!

Crowd engrossed in the show!

I did not want to leave the place, but it was getting dark and with a pit stop to make at Moulin Rouge, we started our journey back. While coming down the hill, I had my first sight of Eiffel Tower far away, looking like a miniature version of the real one! The "fireworks" were on and it was just beautiful. We made our way back to the metro, just one station away and right outside was the huge wind mill and the writing "Moulin Rouge" glowing glamorously in red. I missed one of those fluttering dresses while striking a Marilyn Monroe (she had nothing to do with the place :P ) pose in front of Paris' legendary cabaret.

Eiffel Tower from Montmartre 

Right outside Blanche metro station! 

Glamorous.. amorous!

Marking the end of a beautiful day! Time to rest my mind and body as another long day awaited.