The hotel we are staying at is directly across the road from the Pantheon 
so its fairly easy to find your way back to and to see its general location in the skyscape. Its our first experience of European hotels and the room is fairly small (although surprisingly has a generous sized bathroom) which means David frequently curses as he stubs his foot against yet another suitcase. The ceiling is interesting as it has a plaster cornice but the ceiling itself has exposed beams with examples of grossly twisted wood (ceiling rafters bend more than 6 inches throughout their length, and gaps up up to half an inch where the beam meets the cross member). Guess its held together for a few decades so far so hopefully it will tolerate one more night.
so its fairly easy to find your way back to and to see its general location in the skyscape. Its our first experience of European hotels and the room is fairly small (although surprisingly has a generous sized bathroom) which means David frequently curses as he stubs his foot against yet another suitcase. The ceiling is interesting as it has a plaster cornice but the ceiling itself has exposed beams with examples of grossly twisted wood (ceiling rafters bend more than 6 inches throughout their length, and gaps up up to half an inch where the beam meets the cross member). Guess its held together for a few decades so far so hopefully it will tolerate one more night.So far, the people we have met in Paris have been friendly and most have made efforts to speak in English when they realise that we are not fluent. Quite a bit of English is evident in everyday use but at some of the sights the explanations have been in French which might explain why some people move through reasonably quickly.
So, what did we do today? The French seem to have quite sociable hours of not starting until 10 am and then generally closing a bit later so we got off to a slow start with a Cafe Latte at one of the local cafe houses on the way down Boulevarde Saint Michelle toward the Notre Dame.
Although we got to Notre Dame before the real crowds arrived it was still busy. Notre Dame still allows photographs to be taken in the church so dodging flashes was a bit of a hazard. We have both learned to turn the flash off for such places, but it makes for some unusable images in the darker corners. The stained glass windows are amazing but photos don't quite do them justice.
The commercial approach of some churches in England was less apparent here (nor at Sacre Coeur) but each still had the obligatory souvenir shop. At least they had free entry and you could give a donation if you wished. It is still quite frustrating that lots of people don't respect the simple requests made of them (e.g. to be silent or to sometimes not take photographs) and there was always someone who had to do it their way.
Although we got to Notre Dame before the real crowds arrived it was still busy. Notre Dame still allows photographs to be taken in the church so dodging flashes was a bit of a hazard. We have both learned to turn the flash off for such places, but it makes for some unusable images in the darker corners. The stained glass windows are amazing but photos don't quite do them justice. The commercial approach of some churches in England was less apparent here (nor at Sacre Coeur) but each still had the obligatory souvenir shop. At least they had free entry and you could give a donation if you wished. It is still quite frustrating that lots of people don't respect the simple requests made of them (e.g. to be silent or to sometimes not take photographs) and there was always someone who had to do it their way.After Notre Dame we went with the Spanish Nuns on the bus (going past all the favourite tourist spots)
but we got off at Sacre Coeur while they went who knows where. 
Again lots of tourists and a few touts selling knock off bags and statues of the Eiffel Tower as you walked up the steps to the church. Sacre Coeur was also quite beautiful in its own way but we didn't stay around too long as lunch beckoned and we had other things planned. We went to the Crypt at Notre Dame (which was fairly uninspiring - or maybe I was just getting tired at that point. David said he found it quite interesting but difficult to follow as all the associated posters were in French) and we then decided we would walk up to the Jardin du Luxembourg. It is a beautiful 60 acre garden freely open to the public and offers a peaceful spot in the middle of the city. 
We had tea there and could have stayed longer if it hadn't started to rain. It has been mid to high 20's all day but still quite warm this evening despite the showers. We went out to watch the Eiffel Tower (which we can see from the top of our street) glitter as it is lit up with lots of sparkly bulbs every hour on the hour for a few minutes. Tried taking some photos but that wasn't particularly successful. However, I quite like the one David took of the Pantheon at night so included that instead.
but we got off at Sacre Coeur while they went who knows where. Again lots of tourists and a few touts selling knock off bags and statues of the Eiffel Tower as you walked up the steps to the church. Sacre Coeur was also quite beautiful in its own way but we didn't stay around too long as lunch beckoned and we had other things planned. We went to the Crypt at Notre Dame (which was fairly uninspiring - or maybe I was just getting tired at that point. David said he found it quite interesting but difficult to follow as all the associated posters were in French) and we then decided we would walk up to the Jardin du Luxembourg. It is a beautiful 60 acre garden freely open to the public and offers a peaceful spot in the middle of the city. We had tea there and could have stayed longer if it hadn't started to rain. It has been mid to high 20's all day but still quite warm this evening despite the showers. We went out to watch the Eiffel Tower (which we can see from the top of our street) glitter as it is lit up with lots of sparkly bulbs every hour on the hour for a few minutes. Tried taking some photos but that wasn't particularly successful. However, I quite like the one David took of the Pantheon at night so included that instead.Tomorrow's plan is to catch a train to Palace of Versailles and also visit the Pantheon (which we ran out of time to do today despite it being across the street!) and then catch the overnight train to Barcelona. That means no update tomorrow as I doubt the train will have internet access. Mostly likely the next update will be from Spain.
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