Our first destination was to St Sulpice and we took the Metro and had to walk some. Which we didn't mind because we came across many shops selling cool shoes and bags!!! Unfortunately (and fortunately for our wallets) we were early so the shops were closed. Thankfully, the friend whom I was with in Paris read Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' and we decided to go and find some of the places that were mentioned in the book (and try and recall what happened in the book when we got to the places).
Our first destination was St Sulpice and because it was so quiet, there were hardly anyone along the streets so we walked and followed the map and found St Sulpice - just had to follow the blue dome.
I have no idea why I love taking these tilted shots. Seemed like a good idea back then but now looking at these pictures give me a neckache!
And inside this St Sulpice and it was rather early and the only ones there were several homeless folks who were sleeping at the benches at the back. It was nice just sitting quietly at the back and taking in the church. I think any religious place has that effect of calm and tranquility and it doesn't really matter what is your religious background. And after the rushing about for the last two weeks, that was a real nice change for me.
At the back of the church is this magnificient organ. The Clicquot organ of St-Sulpice church which was built in 1781. One of the finest and the last realizations in classical style was destined to survive the stormy period of the French Revolution.
I took a walk around the church and there were little chapels for the different saints. Was looking out for my favourite saint but didn't see a chapel dedicated to him. Never mind :o) Below is a shot of the front of the church and as you can see, the crowd started to come in.
Took a closer shot of Virgin Mary and baby Jesus which was found at the front of the church.
An hour or so later, we headed out as we had a few more churches to look for and below was our last look at St Sulpice. The church is going through renovation works outside so kinda easy to miss the church if you're not looking out for it.
In Paris you walk as much as you can and sometimes, you come across interesting things that weren't part of the plan. We were taking a short cut through Jardins du Luxembourg and came across this lovely fountain - Fontaine de Medicis. Was about lunch time so there were people with their sandwiches seating near the fountain and relaxing some before heading back to work. Nice!
And yes, one of those few shots of me in the picture. Me posing infront of the fountain. I really need to learn to take more pictures of me in them *laughs* otherwise people have a hard time believing that I was really there cuz I seem to always be hiding behind the camera. Yes, am camera shy lah!
What I noticed is that there aren't alot of flowers at the parks in Paris but they sure have lots of trees. Here's a shot of Jardins du Luxembourg.
As you can see below, it started to rain. An umbrella is a must have. I got myself a bright pink one that's small enough to carry around with me. You can't tell when it's going to rain so just be prepared! Below is one of those things where I wasn't sure if it's meant to be an ornament or serve another function. What happens is when it rains, the water will flow through the centre of the ornament. Well if anyone can enlighten me, please do :o) Thanks!
Despite the rain, we finally made it to the Cathedrale Notre Dame. Unfortunately, it was quite late when we got there and my plan to go up the flight of steps to say hi to the gargoyles had to be KIV to the next time I head to Paris. And yes, that question again ... I wonder when that will be!
Inside the church, there was mass going on plus lots of tourists like me there walking at the perimeter. So it was really hard to take good pictures (or maybe just me a lil tired from the walking). Here are some pretty chandelliers. By the way, you probably already know but there are different types of churches built in the different periods and the Cathedrale Notre Dame is an example of a Gothic or Medieval type of church.
Photograph below shows how pack the cathedral got plus people stayed inside to stay out of the rain outside!
Thought the candles made a pretty picture and other than the simple plain candles, they also had these ones specifically from Cathedrale Notre Dame that you can either light there or bring home, after you pay for them.
It's just wonderful inside and I couldn't stop clicking my camera away and had to tell myself to slow down and enjoy the church for what it is. It's really easy to get caught up with the other touristy crowd and try to take in everything!
The outside is just as awesome as the inside so don't forget to spend some time looking at the outside of the church.
Yes, another one of my titled shots. I am sooo sorry if your neck hurts cuz mine surely is hurting from the tilting! *laughs*
More ooohhhs and ahhhhs for me as I took pictures of this and that. Wished I had a better camera so that I could zoom in but had to make do with what I had ...
From the outside, you can see a bunch of gargoyles. Though these weren't the ones I wanted to say hi too, unfortunately these were the only gargoyles me seeing during that trip :o(
And while we were walking towards the Metro, we came across this bookstore and if you're getting a book from here, look out for the stamp that you get with the book! :o)
It was a tiring day but definitely worth every step we took. Despite the rain, I had a lovely day and was looking forward to the next day. What did we do? Wait and see... Labels: Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris, Fontaine de Medicis, Jardins du Luxembourg, Paris, St Sulpice
You get a nice view from the Basilique Sacré-Coeur, and yes, it was another drizzling day in Paris for us. The view would have been better if the sky had been clear but it was still a wonderful sight for me.
Another view from the outside before we stepped in. We thought we were pretty early but there were lots of tourists taking shelter at the basilica cuz of the rain. So we had to squeeze our way through and try to avoid the wet umbrellas that were in my face alot *frowns*
The cobbled street got my attention so yes, just HAD to take a shot of it too *laughs* Try doing that while you have one hand holding the umbrella, and the other hand using the camera.
Yes, no need to mention about them tilting shots. Just wanted to add that I took this photograph using my handphone. Not bad ya. Can't even tell that it's raining!
We wanted to head to the Artists Corner and the way there is from the Basilique Sacré-Coeur. We were in too much of a hurry to head down and cuz of the rain, it was getting a little hard to head back up to go to the Artists Corner. So yeah, it has been added to my list of things to see the next time round.
My friend had her coffee and they came with these mini macaroons. Of course we asked for the different colours cuz it makes a difference and the colour gives you a clue to the flavour of the macaroon. We only realised that after we asked for different colours (which we initially asked cuz we thought it would look better in our photo!)
Think the pie above could be rhubarb pie and it was super sour but yummy. Got to warn you though that my tolerance for sourish things is quite pathetic so am not a good gauge of how really sour this pie was. Too me, it was five out of five in terms of sourness.
If you're wondering how of us, well two but we were stuck in there so we thought, why stop at one slice of pie when we could have two. So we tried the raspberry pie. Yup, yummy!!!
And yes, we couldn't resist the mushroom crepe too. It was sooooo yummy as it was served warm and it was heavenly. After walking so much that morning, we deserved all these yummy delights!
Oh yes, how could I forget this. A basket of warm freshly baked bread with the tastiest butter. Quite amazing how we finished the bread and still could eat everything else *laughs* As we ate, we saw people coming in and out to buy bread because Paul has a huge range of breads. And it was interesting to see how the locals would buy a french loaf and just eat it plain. Hmmm ....
