We had petit dejeuner (breakfast) at our hotel on Easter morning, then began our walk about Paris. Our hotel was located a block from the Tuileries, so we entered and walked directly toward the Louvre. By 9, the lines for Louvre tickets had formed, with hundreds of people standing about the glass pyramid entrance. We made our way east along the river to the Ile de la Cite. The line for Sainte Chapelle was relatively short, so we waited about 20 minutes for tickets. The stained glass windows of Sainte Chapelle are incredible! We walked directly to the Notre Dame, where an Easter service was under way. Thousands of people were in line to walk through the Notre Dame. After a walk around the exterior, we got in line and walked inside, with the service in full swing.
The Notre Dame is an unparallelled work of art and architecture.
We made our way across the River Seine, past the Sorbonne, to Jardin du Luxembourg, where we sat and watched toy sailboats in the fountains, all surrounded by statuary and spring flowers. Our next stop was Saint Sulpice Cathedral, which happened to have an organ concert playing. We enjoyed both the sights and sound! We had lunch in a creperie near Saint Sulpice, then walked to Eglise Saint Germain L'Auxerrois, with its interior walls covered in biblical paintings. We crossed the River Seine again at the Louvre, and walked through to get to the Royal Cathedral.
On our way to the Palais Royale Jardin, a stringed ensemble was playing in front of Comedie Francais. They were wonderful! We sat on a bench and enjoyed listening for some time. Then we walked into Palais Royale Jardin, with tulips in bloom and roses in bud. We walked back through the Tuileries to the Metro and rode up to the Sacre Coeur. It was a beautiful afternoon and a few hundred thousand other people had the same idea. It was an Easter in Paris we won't forget!
