France: Day 2

Sunday we rode the train out east to Torcy, another of Jacob's areas where he'd lived, so we could attend church.  

I thought the tri-level train was fun.

We found the place he'd lived while on his mission.  It is on the same road as the LDS church.

Jacob was happy to see a few families he knew attending that ward still.  It was strange for me to sit through a meeting in a different language.  Jacob would translate for me every once in a while, but mostly I people-watched or stared out the windows. :)  We did get to talk to the missionaries though, who are American, so I was happy to speak with someone in English.  At church was the first time someone greeted me the French way, with bisous (air kisses on each cheek)!  I was excited.

After church, we headed into Paris to visit Notre Dame.  Here's one of the bridges over the Seine River.

This street on the way to ND was packed with cafes and souvenir shops.

Notre Dame!

It is gorgeous inside!  After walking around the perimeter we sat on a pew for a while to relax and think about all the hard work that went into building such a marvelous structure.  This year actually marks 850 years since it was built.

We were pretty hungry and stopped in a little cafe to eat lunch.  My first crepe in Paris!  Nutella and banana.   I loved it.  Jacob had a jambon et fromage (ham and cheese) sandwich on baguette.

Then we walked up the stairs in the tower.  It's almost 400 steps to the top!!  They only served as a reminder that I am out of shape.  Going down was easier on me, but not on Jacob's poor old knees.

first view of the Eiffel Tower!!

I loved being up there!  I couldn't believe we were in Paris and could not stop smiling.  It made me want to write poetry or maybe just read The Hunchback of Notre Dame. :)

Some of the spaces were a little tight for Jacob; I guess they were made for small French people. :)

Point Zero is the point from which all distances in Paris are measured.

Just a pretty blossoming tree in a cute park where we stopped to eat some macarons and chocolat.

We went inside this famous bookstore.  I played the piano that's upstairs just so I could say I did.

We ate dinner in the Quartier Latin.  There are so many restaurants that it was hard to decide.  We had pizza, which I know is Italian, but mine had creme fraiche on it, so that makes it French, right? :)

There really are accordion players in France!!  We saw them mostly in the metro or serenading diners.

Creme brulee...mmm

Notre Dame is around the block from where we ate, so we walked over to see it at sunset.  So pretty!