Stohrer breakfast this morning was accompanied by a little mushroom soup! I had left Stohrer and was heading back to the apartment and noticed that the greengrocer at the end of the street had two little terrines out front, self-service soups steaming away, and they both smelled amazing. I opted for the mushroom — the other was potato artichoke if I remember correctly — and it made for a nice warm complement to my usual quiche.
Today is our (first) day with a reservation into Notre Dame. (I thought I had made the reservation for Tuesday and we were planning on doing it then, but I got an email this morning saying my reservation was today, so I panicked a little and made one for tomorrow, and then we decided it would be ok if we did it today anyways.)
It was a pleasant stroll down Montorgueil, through Les Halles, across Pont Neuf and then down the left-bank-side of Ile de la Cité. We paused for a little sit on the benches at the edge of the courtyard in front of the cathedral — we were a little early for our reservation. It’s kinda crazy that all the facades covering up the construction that blocked most of the view in ’21 are all gone now.
(I’m beyond happy that all the repairs were able to be completed and that this church is reopened. I know I’m not super religious any more, but Notre Dame is more than just a church — if you watch any interviews with the artisans who worked on the restoration, they all pretty much echoed that Notre Dame was the center of the city, and I agree. It’s the heart of Paris, more than the Eiffel Tower, more than the Louvre, for me anyways.)
We cashed in our QR codes and hit the entry time a little early. I will not be able to do the restoration justice with words (nor will I try) — I took a lot of video inside and I’ll get it edited some day and put up on the Youtube channel. Suffice to say it’s no less magnificent than it was the first time we went inside — the reconstruction with accurate materials and techniques, the cleaned stained glass, the white marble columns, it’s truly an awesome sight to behold.
(I lit a candle for Grandma. I like to think she would have liked that.)
I think we were in there for close to two hours. Afterwards, we crossed over to the left bank to go into Shakespeare and Company (I was looking for a book that I decided I wanted to read but wanted to wait until Paris to buy, but unfortunately I couldn’t find it) and then we got coffee in the Shakespeare coffee shop. (I say “we got coffee” but I got a hojicha latte. I’m branching out after my enjoyment of all the chai drinks this past fall.)
Nice view.
We crossed back over to Ile de la Cité and walked along the side of Notre Dame, heading towards Ile St Louis. The construction walls are still up along that side. We still had a little time before Grand-Mere opened for dinner, so we stopped at Le St Regis and toasted H’s new job with very appropriate glasses of champagne. Very proud of this next step in her career.
Dinner at Aux Anysetiers du Roi was the full affair. Carafe(s) of wine! Boeuf bourguignon and cassoulet! More wine! Tarte aux pommes and chocolate mousse for dessert.
It was a long cold walk back to the apartment but very much worth it, as we walked back along the river and enjoyed the prolonged view back at the Eiffel Tower.