After days of constant walking and sight seeing the most famous of sights, we decided to take it easy our last full day in Paris. We slept in, had our usual crepe for breakfast and bought our souvenirs. We stayed in the hotel much of the day. I blogged, Rock slept. We had one thing planned for the day and that was a concert in the Sainte Chappelle, a beautiful old cathedral with more stained glass than I have ever seen! On our way to the concert we did stop at the Luxembourg Gardens.
Luxembourg Palace
One of my favorite pics!
Love the square trees.
The sun finally peaked through on our last evening in Paris.
Then it was on to the Sainte Chappelle Cathedral, a chapel built by our favorite king, Louis XIV to house France’s important religious relics like the crown of thorns. The relics are no longer kept there, but the chapel is such a gem, they had us go through as much security as the Eiffel tower or the airport!
The chapel was so much smaller than the other massive cathedrals we had seen. It was a beautiful and intimate setting for the concert, a string quartet with an accompanying harpsichord. They played Pachelbel’s Canon, The Four Seasons and Chaconne by Vitali. With the twilight shining through the stained glass and the amazing acoustics of the room it was the perfect ending to an almost perfect trip to Paris.
Here’s a video of Pachelbel’s canon. I didn’t want to invade other people’s viewing so I just filmed the windows. Sorry. You can see the cellist and that’s about it. Still fun to listen to, though. I mostly recorded it so that Reagan could here this one. He knows how to play it.
The cafe across the street.
One of my favorite things about France is the medieval architecture mixed with the modern cafes.
We left France the next morning. Our plane left an hour late, so we missed our connection in DC. We were re-routed to Chicago and then had to stay the night there when I got sick. Ironically enough we stayed in the same hotel at the airport that we stayed in when our honeymoon was hijacked by a hurricane and a volcano fifteen years ago. This trip to Europe was our fifteen year anniversary trip so I guess that was apropos, to borrow a french term. But I told Rock I never want to fly to O’hare again. Only bad things happen there. However, I do consider it a bragging point that we have now walked the entire length and breadth of the Chicago O’hare airport. Every terminal, every concourse. When you are stuck there all day and want to exercise, that’s what you do. Just in case you wondered, there is at least two McDonald’s, one Chili’s and several Starbucks in every terminal.
It is good to be back in America. There are things I appreciate now that I never did before. Free public bathrooms-with toilet seats, my native tongue, colorful clothing. In France everyone wore black or dark colors and I stuck out like a sore thumb in my bright pink coat. There were times when I was the only one on a crowded subway car wearing a color other than black. One of these is not like the others… In America people wear bright colors and I am grateful. But I will miss the crepes and the cafes. I will miss the history that oozes from every turret and spire, the amazing architecture and the beauty.
People keep asking me which I liked better, London or Paris. I don’t know how to answer that. They were both so different. In England everything was more orderly, its people more reserved, but it felt more like home, less foreign. In France things are big and messy, more flamboyant. The buildings are huge, the street signs crooked and covered with stickers people stuck on randomly. The people more loud, more emotional. It felt more strange, but I loved the personality of Paris. It was a wonderful adventure to see these two countries, these two cities, and compare them to each other, compare them to New York and America, to home. I guess that’s what world traveling is all about. I’m a lucky girl to have seen them all.
Short n Sweet 
Glad you're home.
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