Lindsay's Stair-Master Tour of Paris

Well, we have wound down our time in Paris and we are now sitting in an internet cafe in Nantes. We'd love to know how many stairs we ascended and descended during our one week in Paris. It all began with the 52 stairs from the courtyard to our apartment. Add to that the running up and down...in and out of the Metro...all week long. We also climbed the steep ascent to Montmartre - where sidewalk artists sketch and paint - to the summit of its crowning jewel - the cathedral, Sacre Coeur. The panoramic view and full moon over Paris was worth every step. Mid-week, we joined the centuries of pilgrims who have walked the stone stairs of Mont St. Michel - seekers of a place to worship God under the protective watch of the gilded sword-wielding watch of Saint Michel.

We did not climb the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, and our late evening attempt to ascend the Arc de Triomphe was thwarted by our late arrival back to Paris and a complicated sequence of Metro hops that got us there just after it closed. The late night outing was redeemed by positioning ourselves at The Trocadero, where we saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle. Every hour, on the hour, the already illuminated tower dazzles with tiny white lights blinking in rapid, firefly sequence.

With our Museum Pass, we skipped through some long lines and traipsed up and down the stairs and passageways that led to the colorful impressionist works of Van Gogh, Degas, and Renoir at the Musee D'Orsay, the unforgettable water-lily masterpieces of Monet that fill two rooms of L'Orangerie, and the grand scale of the Louvre...where we gawked at the Mona Lisa, admired the statue of the Venus de Milo, and surveyed works of some of the Italian Renaissance masters. We joined some school kids (gamin) and tourists for a picnic lunch on the steps of the Musee D'Orsay, resting our very tired feet.

Somewhere in the midst of climbing yet another flight of stairs, we started referring to our Paris adventure as "Lindsay's Stair-Master Tour." Yet, all of the walking and climbing did not deter Jack from a run along the Seine, admittedly accomplished early in the week. Lindsay knows the city well enough that she guided us quite capably through the congestion that is typical in a city the size of Paris. And she only lost us once, when we all jumped onto a jam-packed metro, only to discover that Lindsay had entered a different car from Jack and I. We had not a clue where we were going and Lindsay had the only functioning cell phone among us, so we had a few moments of panic until the next Metro stop, when Lindsay hopped out of the car she had entered and popped onto the once we occupied, much to our immense relief. That was day one on the Metro. Needless to say, from that point on, we were more vigilant when stepping onto the train.

Although we all enjoyed the experience that is Paris, we were also ready to board one final set of stairs onto the train that carried us through the country-side to the much smaller and quite charming city of Nantes, Lindsay's home for the past 9 months. We have been greeted by typical Nantais weather...pouring rain...so we've done a bit of exploring and some resting. Tomorrow we'll go to Lindsay's church, where we will worship in a French-speaking congregation, and we'll experience the open-air market here in Nantes. Monday we depart for the Dordogne Region.

Blessings to all,

Cheryl