Day 12 – Sunday | Postcards

Since I went to mass last weekend at Notre Dame, I planned to visit the American Catholic church in Paris, Saint Joseph. Missed the 11 o’clock mass because I got lost. It’s in the 8th arrondissment, close to the 17th, and I had not been out that way till the day before. So, I decided not to fret since there was a 12:30 mass and went for a cafe. At McD’s. I wanted to see the downtown menu. They have automated ordering machines, then you go pick up your food when it’s ready. But the cafe and pastry section is hands-on for the specialty cafe McD’s serves. Ate my snack and wandered again through the district to find St. Joseph. I felt BLESSED to arrive and have a seat! The Passionist order reside at SJ and the priests are Irish. The parishioners were so friendly and a mix of people – East Indian, African, Asian, and Americans. I’m glad I went, it felt like home.

All dressed up, I marched down to the Metro which took me to the Pont Neuf bridge. My brilliant idea: since my days are ending, I need to have my bateau ride on the Seine River. I found the Vedettes du Pont Neuf, paid my 14 euros and took a single-seat up top on the right side of the boat. The one-hour tour floated us past the two iles (little islands), turned left and backward, headed the length of the city to the Eiffel Tower, then did another left turn to dock us back where we started. The guide spoke in French and English, was thoroughly interesting about the buildings, sites and historic significance, and at the end I felt that was the best 14 euros I could have spent to see as much as I did. And floating on the Seine gave such a different perspective. The other good deal, if you recall, was my self-guided #69 bus tour last week, about 1.20 euros.

With just a bit more time to fit in another site, I headed towards the Palais du Justice and arrived at the Conciergerie and its neighbor, Sainte Chappelle. First, Le Conciergerie was Paris 17th and 18th century prison. Marie Antoinette spent her last months there before her “interview” and execution. The prison held up to 800 prisoners during the rebellion and the structure that survives is beautiful warm, yellowed stone. Hard to imagine the terror and sorrow and pain that it contained during those dark times. Makes you think twice about a hotel “concierge”! There’s a very nice memorial to Marie Antoinette in the place that her stony prison chamber and personal chapel were situated. Present-day French have a soft spot for M.A.

Once done with the walk-through, I headed to Sainte Chappelle two doors down but it was closed for a concert. No ticket, no entry. Darn it again, I missed the last entry time just like last week. As it was getting to be early evening, I decided to head back to the Metro and Saint Mande for a nice sit-down bistro dinner at the Royal Comptoir – let someone else cook and clean up for me. Since the special osso bucco ran out, and it was Sunday after all, I chose leg of lamb – it was delicious. I jotted thoughts and ideas and memories in a notebook while sipping my appetizer, another Cosmo. I can’t believe my trip is ending soon…