View of Notre Dame in Paris From the Back

I had mentioned that this might be our last time to do Valentine’s Day in Paris. The truth is that unless we win a big lottery (no, wasn’t in on that mega win on Wednesday) and can fly first class, these long trips become more tiring as you get older. There are other places that we still want to go to, so our number of overseas trips will need to be allocated to taking care of different priorities. Anyway, the flight had no delays and there wasn’t much turbulence. There also weren’t some of the amenities on-board because it was an older plane, and traffic getting into the Left Bank of Paris was really snarled. With that said, it wasn’t raining either and we were grateful for that. As it turns out, the hotel is very close to the one we stayed in previously and thus is a great location for what we want to do.

The stroll around the first couple of streets helped orient us and since we didn’t want to do too much today, a nice lunch at a brassiere was in order. They had the croque monsieur that we had so much trouble finding last time, so that, frites, a green salad and wine was perfect. The sandwich is grilled ham and cheese except that the cheese is outside on top that gives it a golden brown melting quality and requires being eaten with a knife and fork. I had completely forgotten that hubby had never really been inside of Notre Dame and while we didn’t want to wait the hour to go to the second floor or do one of the tours, you can get the sense of this beautiful, iconic cathedral with the amazing architecture and incredible amount of stained glass by just walking around inside. Hubby had whatever lens is suitable for inside without needing to use a flash that is prohibited. I let him set the pace and after we did that, we naturally had to go to the back for shots of the famous gargoyles and “Flying Buttresses” that are in all the shots of posters, etc.

It is cold here though with a pretty stiff wind and we came back to let me post and to take a nap. In general, you should try to stay up, but this is another rule that doesn’t apply as much as you age because you often take a nap even if jet lag isn’t an issue. So, we’ll see what happens with dinner out and I admit that this photo of the cathedral doesn’t do it justice. It is, however, the kind that I take.