No, we didn't go to church at the Notre Dame, but you can see it from the street next to the church building. We had anticipated the Metro being nearly empty because of it being an early Sunday morning, however, that was not the case. It was more crowded than a warm Saturday with tourists. Why? The Marathon de Paris was today. Thankfully it was early in the morning so the metro didn't stink of sweaty runners! I'm grateful that we exited the Metro on the correct side of the street, otherwise we would have had to somehow navigate ourselves around thousands of runners who were going down the the main street.
We actually got to church a little early only to be a little confused by the fact that there was no sign outside the door. And we didn't know a code to get in. We only had to wait a couple minutes before someone came by and opened the door. Apparently you just have to push the button and the door will open. It opened into a courtyard with big cobblestones.
We were immediately greeted (in English) and were told the story of the building. It was built in 1624 and the door we came through from the street was where people would enter the courtyard in their carriages. Then off to the right you see arched doorways that used to be the stables. There are even still some hooks on the wall that people used to hitch their horses to. The boys went to Primary (which is first, and Sacrament meeting is last. Doug wonders why it's so backwards because it's horrible for kids, but then I mentioned that perhaps it was so everyone would actually be on time for the more important Sacrament meeting. I remember on my mission that there was hardly anyone on time for Relief Society, but everyone would gradually trickle in on time for Sacrament).
Anyway, Doug went to Primary with the boys and they conducted it partially in French and partially in English. Matt even participated. I went to Nursery with Timmy and was met by two American families. So much for speaking in french for three hours. The only kids in the nursery were American and they were all (all three of them) within a couple months of Timmy's age. Because last week was General Conference, and the building didn't have satellite reception, we watched a session from last Sunday. There was a room for English, a room for Mandarin Chinese, and a room for French. About 1/3 of the ward speaks English, another 1/4-1/3 speaks Chinese, and the rest is French. There's even normally a Sunday School in English. Sacrament meeting is in French but they hand out translator headphones for anyone who wants one. After church everyone headed out into the courtyard to sing 'Happy Birthday” to the Bishop and eat cupcakes. And FYI, Soeur Smart (Elizabeth Smart) was just transferred into our ward. (for anyone who might find that interesting thought I'd let you know)
When we left the marathon was over and the streets were back to normal. The Centre Pompidou is on the right corner of the street the church is on. We'll go back and visit on another day. The boys thought it looked like a weird building. Just to the left down the street was the Hotel de Ville.
We wandered around there a little bit, checked out the carousel, and the fountains, and had someone beg for money. We pointed out the Notre Dame to the boys and mentioned the gargoyles. They have already seen pictures of them and they think they look like meat eaters. Luckily they received binoculars in a Happy Meal and we can go back to look at the gargoyles later.
The Metro was much less crowded on the way back home. The Metro system here is pretty amazing. It's actually fairly easy to follow (especially having been used to a metro in DC). The thing that really helps is knowing exactly what your destination is so you can get out on the right street. There seems to be about 3-4 exits for each Metro stop. And a lot of stairs. It's amazing to think that one could actually spend their entire day underground. It's a huge maze of underground trains. I have to remember that there is actually a lot of hidden underground places under Paris. I saw that there is a tour of the Catacombs next week. While kids are free, I'm not sure that I'll take the boys. I'd much rather go on a Taste of Paris tour, or the History of Chocolate tour. And there are cooking demonstrations at the Cordon Bleu that I can't wait to go to.
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