Sunday, April 30th, 2006    sunrise-06:55    sunset-09:04    low/high temp:7-11C (44.5-52F)

    We started out today a little late.  We slept in, getting up around 9:00am.  We decided the night before to go to Notre Dame for Mass.  The 10:30am Mass had the Gregorian Chants, so off we went to attend Mass.  Mass at Notre Dame is ALWAYS awe inspiring, and with the Gregorian Chanting, it adds another dimension to the whole experience.
    In the future, I would recommend that we sit further forward, in the 'walled off' area, as Notre Dame doesn't close during services, so hundreds of tourists are walking through the building during the Mass.  It can be quite distracting, and I will definitely remember to move forward, out of sight of the tourists.

   
Sunday morning market on          Nice shot of the Palais du           A very nice photo.
the way to Ile de la Cité.           Justice, (Conciergerie)

   
Notre Dame in the morning.       Danielle and the flowers.           I liked this sculpture.

   
Yep, Danielle found some more four legged friends.                    She got a nice shot here...

    After Mass, we started walking towards the Catacombs, which seemed the PERFECT choice considering it was our last day in Paris, and also the ONLY day it actually rained the entire time we were in Paris.  We almost got all the way to the Catacombs before the rain started.  Granted, we had lots of time since the Catacombs didn't open on Sunday until 2:00pm.  I chose the route there, and we passed several old Churches along the way.  Unfortunately, it being Sunday, many were holding Mass or Services as well, so we could not enter and explore.  (I feel quite awkward walking through a house of worship with services going on.)  Most churches had attendants outside explaining, in French, that services are underway, to ensure 'privacy' and solemnity during the service.

We wandered by Saint-Séverin.

   
The Odeon Theater                    Licensed 4 wheelers on the       I loved the entrance here!
(l'Odeon Theatre de l'Europe)      streets of Paris...                     Awesome door and sculptures.

Saint Sulpice

   
This church is written about in one of the Dan Brown books, The DaVinci Code.  It is an amazing piece of architecture.  We entered by the back entrance, not knowing that services were in progress.  We stayed in the back, looked at the floor-plan, and chose to leave.  The attendants were at the other end of the building, at the front entrance.
 

   
Obviously, we chose to NOT use a flash, and still got some amazing photos of the inside, as far as we were comfortable going without disturbing the congregation.  I pointed out one of the interesting architectural parts of the Church, the tiny hole in the wall that during the Winter Solstice lights up the obelisk at the North end of the Church.  This church also has 3 famous works by Delacroix, including St. Michel slaying the dragon.
We didn't go any further than to look around the non-Mass area and then leave.

Luxembourg Gardens

   
While we had been here the past week, this morning, our path took us through there once again.  One can have no doubt about the value France and Paris place on open green spaces in their principal city.

   
Luxembourg Chateau, and museum in the background.

   
Grants' girls on the path...          Taking in the awesome view!    A nice long shot of the Chateau.

   
The entire pool and garden steps are surrounded by statuary, with explanations below many of them.

   
These gardens are truly magnificent.  The length, breadth, scope and colors were amazing.

   
                                               It almost hurt watching these ladies perform the Yoga exercises!

We just thought the architecture was cool.

     
As you may know by now, my wife LOVES fountains, and this one was awesome!
   

 
As it started to rain, we stopped for a snack, espresso for me and chocolate for the girls.

Catacombs

   
   
The black line in the upper middle was used to guide people in/out of the catacombs, as they are a very complicated labyrinth of tunnels.  In the time before electricity, people did die trying to get out, according to the lore...
These catacombs were created to eliminate a couple problems:  Sanitary issues causing illness, and also to add more space to Paris.  There are more than 300 km (over 185 miles) of actual catacombs.  The tour is only a small fraction of the entire catacombs!  I'll leave the commentary here and let you just peruse the actual photos we took...
BTW, no restroom for the entire tour, so go before you arrive at the entrance...
                                             
Here, we exit the Catacombs via another stairway blocks away from the entrance.

   
European advertising.                Sorry Grant wouldn't be here!    Why use a bunny for the warning?

                         
                        Farewell to another old friend    Off back to the hotel for dinner...
                        this time from the elevated train.

 
We decided to go to this Raclette/Fondue restaurant around the corner from the hotel.
They served the raclette much different than we do, or than we had in Switzerland.
It was great fun though.  I would have preferred more veggies and potatoes, though.
I loved the look when Danielle saw her raw beef skewers placed in front of her!
The place was empty when we arrived, and absolutely packed to the gills when we left!
 

   
Time to say farewell to what has become an old friend.  Cindy (G) and Danielle and then Cindy (G) and Cindy.

    We then went back to the hotel and got ready for the trip home tomorrow.  Packing for the trip home is always arduous.  We planned on sending another package home in the morning via the Poste, easing our burden of what we had to carry.