This was the day we visited the place from which all distances were once measured in France – Notre Dame cathedral. In other words, this was the center of the universe back in the day. So why did it feel so...what’s the word?...unfulfilling?
Beyond our own deficiencies in religiosity, one reason could be the mass of humanity that seemed to be assaulting the cathedral, inside and out. We don’t like crowds – at least not today, not in this heat, not in this sun. Maybe the visit to St. Peter’s in Rome two years ago spoiled us on religious shrines everywhere else, but it sure seemed like a more appealing experience than Notre Dame did today.
And it can’t just be the crowds. There were at least as many people streaming into St. Peter’s, probably more. So we’ve concluded it’s the other factor that’s come up in this journal before – the heat. Seasoned travelers do not recommend seeing Paris in the summer – partially for the crowds you encounter, for sure, but also because it can be so uncomfortably hot June through August in Paris. Wrap us up in sweaters the next time we’re here and we doubt you’ll hear any more comments about the weather from us.
Oh, yeah – almost forgot the "avoided scam" down by the Louvre. What are the chances that you can look down and find a gold wedding band lying on the sidewalk? That has to be a highly unusual occurrence, right? And yet, the kindly old woman who approached us allegedly did just that, bending down to the sidewalk and then displaying a gold wedding band to us that she had just “found,” right there in front of us. “Is this yours?” she seemed to ask. Her gestures were meant to attract our attention, which they did for about one second, at which time we simultaneously recalled our Florence, Italy experience. We turned and left the beseeching woman behind – just as the bicyclist zoomed by, probably cursing his bad luck that we didn’t fall for the distraction.
So here are our take-aways from today’s trip to the Ile de la Cité: We’re going to plan our future trips for times when the crowds and the heat are not likely to be factors, and we’re always going to be wary when strangers try to give us gold rings, pearl necklaces, wallets, tiaras and anything else of alleged value, completely out of the blue. Call us overly suspicious, but we’ll take our chances on the Lottery.
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