Remembering Notre Dame

I couldn't write this post yesterday.  I was just too upset.  My son called and asked if I was watching the news (as if, since my grandson was here).  I turned on CNN as instructed and instantly fell into tears.  The emotional effect was just overwhelming.

I blogged about my first visit to Notre Dame in 1969 just last year.  There are so many wonderful memories about this beautiful structure.  It wasn't until this morning that I was able to search my old picture albums from my 1999 visit.  At the time, the entire front of the cathedral was covered in scaffolding as it was being cleaned for the year 2000 celebration.

Already, nearly $600 million dollars had been pledged to rebuild the cathedral.  The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is collecting donations here in the USA.  It seems like an easier task to collect the money than it will be to rebuild.  But Europeans have restored many churches and palaces destroyed by their wars and I have no doubt this will be any different.

Here are a few of my photos from 1999.

May 11, 1969 Paris, France

Another day in Paris and my diary records our aggravation.  Funny that after all these years I still remember how disappointed we were in our experience that day.

We started the day by going to the Louvre.  Here is my picture from 1999 with the I. M. Pei pyramid that of course was not there in 1969.

In the couple of hours we were there we did manage to see the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory at Samothrace and the Mona Lisa.  Here I am as Venus in 1999:

As I remember it, we spent two hours roaming around with a museum guidebook that seemed out of date.  We were frustrated and ended up leaving.  We chalked it up to being unwelcome Americans. My 1999 trip back was much more enjoyable.

We went through the Jardin de Tuileries

The Garden of the Tuileries on a Spring Morning - Camille Pissarro

and on to the Place de la Concorde.  Up the Champs-Elysee

Oil by Christa Kieffer that hangs in my family room.

to the Place de l'Etoile and the tomb of the unknown French soldier.

From there it was onto the Tour Eiffel where we had lunch on the 2eme etage at the Plein Ciel.  It was marvelous.

Eiffel Tower in 1999 with countdown to the new millenium.

The view.

One cannot go to Paris without cruising on the Seine and so we spent an hour doing just that!

The day costs me $10.30 including the aforementioned useless guidebook.

May 10, 1969 Paris, France

Paris, France.  Before I go any further I must say this is perhaps the most beautiful city I have ever traveled to.  I can certainly understand why one of my cousins has chosen to live there for the last 20+ years.

We start the day with a continental breakfast of French bread and jam.  Our first stop of the day is Notre-Dame Cathedral.  We climb 193 steps to the top of the south tower.  The view is beautiful.  Glad I did this when I was young!

Daniel Vorndran / DXR [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

Leaving the cathedral we head to La Conciergerie and see the room where Marie Antoinette was kept before her execution.  The Conciergerie is the building in the middle of the photo below.

Daniel Vorndran / DXR [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

I do have a rant in my diary about out attempts to buy stamps.  We did not have the greatest welcome in Paris.  It was 1969, the Vietnam war, and we were Americans.  The first shop we went into had what I called at the time 'the rudest woman I have ever met'.  We actually went to another shop and met a very helpful young man.

In the afternoon we went to the Pantheon where we had a French guide who only spoke French and was very nice.  I guess I must have done the translation for Shar.  We met another tourist from Detroit.

French postcard of the Pantheon 1795.  (We did see some French postcards but doubted they were allowed through US mail, lol)
We walked around the Palais de Luxembourg Gardens.

By Steve from washington, dc, usa [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Today I bought perfume and rosaries from Notre-Dame for gifts.  We had salami on French baguettes and pastry for dinner.  OMG, I spent $30.13.

BTW, I could use my photos from my 1999 trip there but then I would have to scan them into the computer.   Ugh.

This is a map from the travel diary I kept.  I cannot believe we could actually read these maps which measure about 6" x 3.5"  (15cm x 9cm).