Paris

Day 3

After our morning basket-breakfast we did the historical walking tour of Isle de la Cite (the island Notre Dame is on) and Isle St Louis, which is the oldest part of Paris. They are connected by a bridge and are across the Seine from our place. Our total distance was about 6 miles and it is nice to stretch our legs. Notre Dame is huge! The building is over 152 yards long (longer than a football field) and 53 yards wide. We followed Rick Steves tour through the old city. Narrow streets and medieval buildings, which we are used to from our walks in Italy. Most of Paris has wide streets for full size cars. The streets are clean and well organized.  We heard Rick Steves speak at the Pittsburgh Speakers Series this past April and downloaded his book about Paris. His information is spot-on and detailed. We also saw Sainte Chapelle and went inside Conciergerie where Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned. There were movies on the Revolution, which instructed me but were a review for Dow. Dow, always a history instructor, was in her element. When we arrived at our room we had to move because the blinds on the window did not work. We are moving on up -bigger place, which we did not argue, about and at the same price. It's a suite, not a studio – lovely!!

We went to a local bistro and the food was ok but talking to the people made the experience so wonderful. The ties between Americans and French are closer then you can imagine.

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