Paris 2017, Day 1

Day One is in the books.  And it was a typical day for the Sharon and Shon Show -- we spent the entire day wondering where we were, why it was so difficult to follow the directions on our walking card (blaming it on the card, just sayin), doubling back, retracing our steps, asking directions, getting lost again -- well, if you've followed our adventures in the past, you already know our drill.

Each time we're on an adventure (read here: lost) we experience an unexpected wonder and once again are grateful for the delay due to the distraction.

We started out on the hunt for the wind turbine trees.

Lori, my daughter, tries to send us off each trip on a quest to discover something she is interested in.  Last year it was a particularly unusual door, it was worth the hunt as it was truly unique and interesting.  This year it's wind turbine trees -- google it to learn more about this French company heavily involved in renewable energy.  We got off the metro at Concorde which always gives me a shiver as we exit the station.  The enormous Egyptian plinth in the middle of the traffic madness with the Eiffel Tower behind in one direction, the Lourve in another and the Arch de Triumph in yet another,

We performed a detailed scan of the area, gave up and approached a vendor to ask for directions.  He knew nothing about a turbine tree but he was there with a rack of post cards so I bought a few for Lori's collection.

Sharon did a bit more research on her phone and determined that it was near "the traffic circle" on the Champs-Elysees (I decided that meant it was near the Arc and no way was I walking there and still completing a walking card -- that would do me in on day one.  So I nixed that for today along with the mustard place (Maille) because I left my jug in the room and I want it refilled.  That left our first walking card which involved the Latin Quarter in the 5th.  And we were off on an adventure.

We arrived at our metro stop, exited to street level and wow, the construction is everywhere.  What used to be 4 line roads are now 2 lanes with traffic lights AND police everywhere helping to direct traffic.  The police have made themselves very visible with their body armor and machine guns.  Perspective is everything.  Sharon felt the large display of LEOs with large guns was comforting.  I found it close to unnerving.  I don't much like being around guns.  But I like the display of police -- go figure.

This particular card required that we stop here, browse a bit and then backtrack to "explore the labyrinth of old Paris" then jog left then right down one of the narrowest streets in the city.  Yeah, right.  One "jog" and we're lost.  Not that being lost has ever been a problem for me (and thankfully Sharon as well), because we had a delightful time poking around, looking at menus from mostly Greek and Mediterranean cuisines.  The proprietors were all outside their venues inviting us to enjoy their fare, but we simply weren't hungry yet, so we smiled and continued on our way, enjoying the sights and smells and poking around the souvenir shops.  We "wandered aimlessly" for a bit until we accidentally stumbled upon the St Severin which we were supposed to admire the pretty old cloisters and then continue along our way.  Well, Sharon has never seen a church (that is open to the public) that she could NOT go in and this was no exception.  We wandered around a bit, looking into the niches when I heard chanting -- and I was hooked.  A service was in process and I felt pulled like a moth to a flame.  But we were on a mission ... in search of St Theresa so that Sharon could like a candle for her dear friend Terry.  It has become one of our 'things' when in a church I go in search of St Theresa and Sharon lights a candle -- makes me feel a bit closer to that family and that is a good thing.

Following our visit to this lovely house of worship, we promptly got lost again.  When we finally got our bearings we were several blocks off the map, once again backtracking to find the Museum of the Middle Ages, otherwise known as the Musee de Cluny.  What drew us to this 15th century old building was that it houses the famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and I had no intention of leaving Paris without seeing the originals.  When we finally found the room that houses these breathtaking masterpieces I knew that the day was worth every step we had taken.  There are six enormous wall coverings stitched (they believe) in the 16th century.  These were discovered in the early 1841 in an old castle where they had been suffering damage from their storage conditions, namely damp and mold; in 1863 they were brought to the Thermes de Cluny in Paris where careful conservation has restored them nearly to their former glory.  All I could say is that I was close to tears.  This is a close up of the first one which is my favorite:

Created in the late 1400s.  600 years ago.  Just look at that detail!  Astounding.

At some point along the way we stopped for a delicious salad and to rest our tired feet.  For the last month I've been averaging about 3,000 steps a day.  Not because I'm  lazy (which admittedly I am from time to time), but I acquired a rather nasty case of poison oak which I scratched mercilessly until it inside me and it popped out randomly....wherever there was a warm spot.  Yep -- everywhere.  And it hurt...everywhere.  Yea, I get that this is a bit more info than you wanted, but I'm just explaining that I haven't been walking as much as normal and my feet hurt.

So after our late lunch, it was another couple of blocks before we were to "turn left at 49 Rue Monge" to reach the Arenes de Lutece which is a stadium dating back to the 2nd century that used to hold upward of 10,000 people.  No kidding!  We're walking down the street looking at the numbers and up there is number 49 and there is an archway.  Now this street is quite modern with various store fronts, nothing to indicate we were about to enter an arena which, by the way, used to house gladiator events and comedy plays ... yeah, put those two events together in the same sentence!  So we turn left, through a short tunnel of sorts and down some very old stone steps and emerge into the sun.  Here are a few pictures of kids playing soccer.  Look hard at the stone stadium-like seats

Especially in this last photo, those are obvious to me that royalty sat there.  And in the midst of this history is a very modern building that is just barely in the 2nd photo on the left but I chuckled when I realized that the 3rd photo has Montparnasse, the tallest building in Paris in the background.

Over 14,000 steps equals just over 4 miles.  Good girls!