Nortre-Dame and St. Julian le Pauvre

Sunday April 8 - Easter Sunday

It was a really cold windy day Sunday....But I decided to go to Notre-Dame, since it was Easter.  When I got there, you could not get near the place.  There was a line that snaked half way down the Isle de la Cite.   So I decided to just look at it from the outside.  I didn't really take a lot of pictures from the front....there are a million of those already.  So I wandered around the building, down the side and to the back.

Some people were feeding the birds....from their hands.  The birds were all gathering around in the bushes in front of the people with the food.

I left the grounds of Nortre-Dame and headed across a little bridge to the Left Bank.  The bridge is the Pont de L'archeveche and it's well-known for all the lover's locks that are attached to it.  Lovers take a lock, write their names on it (and perhaps an endearment) and then throw the key in the river.  Some say the idea came from an Italian novel, some say from a Russian novel.  Apparently lots of countries are trying to lay claim to the origin of this gesture of immovable love.

My cousin had suggested I check out the church St. Julian le Pauvre....Saint Julian the Poor.  I thought  it was near by so I headed over to the Left Bank and headed west down the river.  After a bit of time wandering around....I came around a corner and there it was.  They were having a concert.  It was a string quartet playing Vivaldi's the Four Seasons.  So I paid my 18 Euros and went it.  The church is quite small and very plain.  It was originally built in the 6th century, destroyed by the Normans and rebuilt by the Benedictines in 1170 - 1280.  So it is REALLY old.  Again...it was kind of dark in there, but I tried to get some pictures.  The music was fantastic.......so beautiful in those ancient stone surroundings.

I walked out the door, and much to my surprise, just around the corner was....Shakespeare and Company.
It was around 7pm and I was cold, hungry and tired, but thought I'd just check it out.  It was so crowded I could hardly even get in the door.  I said "Later..." and headed home.