Inspiring

Look carefully. This is not the original spire of Notre Dame de Paris. None of us who watched the fire unfold live on TV will ever forget how the medieval spire buckled and fell through the roof in April 2019. At one point there were fears the whole building would be lost. Today the restoration is nearing completion. The newly cast bell rung by Olympic gold medal winners in the Stade de France will be added to the bell tower when the cathedral reopens.

Yesterday’s sun did not appear today. But the mist had gone. We visited Montmartre in the morning. While the basilica of Sacre Coeur was unchanged virtually everything else had succumbed to waves of tourists.
The artistic magic, as I remembered the Place du Tetre, has been completely exterminated by throngs of tourists. OK we were tourists too but we did not need countless selfies to prove it nor padlock our “love locks” onto every available fence and balustrade!

We escaped to a side street cafe where normal service for us resumed!

In the afternoon we visited the Ile de Cite and enjoyed the ancient heart of this great city.

Using a combination of metro and buses we meandered back to the hotel. Another 10k of steps accumulated today.

A very traditional restaurant meal concluded our day’s exploration.