notre dame

this is a belated post. clearly. since you all know i am in alaska, not france. due to reasons that made no sense, my flight out of seattle on the way to israel was an hour delayed. this meant that i JUST managed to miss the only air france flight to tel aviv for 8 hrs. the conversation in my head went a lot like: well, hello paris. i didn't intend to see you without adam, but now that i have to what should i do? oh, ask my facebook friends, good call. i'm beginning to feel like i see continental Europe on layovers. I saw Rome like this, too. this time i was more unhappy about not having the film camera. my digital point and shoot didn't give me the color quality or focus depth i wanted...so please forgive the lameness of these photos.

first a short gripe: the new terminal (2E) at DeGaulle. i suddenly understand how tom hanks could live there for years. there's no bloody way out. seriously, i walked like two miles before finally realizing that the little itty bitty unmarked door was the only, repeat ONLY exit. if there was a fire and terminal 2E was burning to the ground, everyone would die because there are no marked exits. end rant.

it is about an hour train ride to notre dame. i had made a "see notre dame without your spouse" buddy who was also headed to tel aviv and he and i ventured into paris. we picked notre dame because it is not particularly romantic...seeing as how all things parisian are meant to be seen with the one you love...not the one you just met on the plane.

One of the features i had forgotten about from pictures is a statue outside of the cathedral. it is on the right as you approach and looks to be to be a ghost king and a servant, and a horse. I kinda figure this is where the inspiration for the ghost kings in the Lord of the Rings came from---seeing as how they look just alike:

So, there are lots of stained glass, interesting architecture and a statue of Joan of Arc inside. I'm going to forgo all those pics in favor of these two from the outside and one final one from the park.  i love stained glass, mind you. we had two in our home growing up made by an artist friend. but like i said above the colors didn't come out properly. besides, the carving is just so intricate AND, more importantly, who can resist a gargoyle. i'm always amazed at the detail of the work, the effort and time it must have taken to complete. while i found the inside to be a bit of a money making scandal (please pay two Euro every ten feet to light candles before different saints), the artistry is really an amazing thing to behold.

Now, for our finale. Please note that in French parks, dogs are not allowed to walk themselves.