In which we see churches, 1, 2, 3

Blaise's parents (Max and Ginnie) and brother (Danny) arrived from Atlanta Wednesday morning (at 6:04 a.m!), and so Blaise headed out to the airport around 5:05 to go pick them up. By the time they had cleared customs and passport control and picked up their luggage and taken the train back to our house, it was nearly 9:00, and we were all ready for breakfast. After breakfast, Max took a nap, and the rest of us headed over to the grocery store to pick up food for lunch and dinner. It was a very slow trip, because Sapphire wanted to show Grandma all of the Christmas chocolates and decorations, and Ezio wanted to show Uncle Danny all of the toys, and of course we had to pick wines and look at the huge refrigerator cases full of foie gras. We did eventually get out of the Auchan, and headed back to the apartment for lunch.

Once we had eaten lunch, we needed to do something to keep everyone awake and active, as a means of getting everyone onto European time as quickly as possible. Blaise had agreed to meet a friend from Claremont-Ferrand (in central France) to pick up some Cantal that had been made by his (the friend's) cousin, so it seemed to make sense to go into the city. We rode the RER to Chatelet, and then walked along the Seine and over the Seine until we reached the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. We spent about 45 minutes wandering through the inside of the cathedral and around the back to see the flying buttresses (which Ezio thought was extremely funny). At that point it was 3:40, and we had just under 2 hours to fill until it was time for Blaise to meet his friend at the Sorbonne. Since we only had an hour and a half or so until we would have to walk over to the Sorbonne, we didn't really want to pay admission anywhere, and since it was windy and drizzly and generally not very pleasant out, we didn't really want to find a playground (there is now one alongside Notre Dame, in case you ever need one there). That pretty much left churches as an option.

I remembered that my mom and I had passed Saint Severin and Notre Dame on our walk between Cluny and the Musée des Arts et Métiers, and figured it must therefore be somewhere in the area. Since it was on our list of churches that we wanted to see at some point while we were in Paris, I suggested that we walk over there. As it turned out, we took the wrong bridge (evidently we had seen the front of Notre Dame, but I had remembered seeing the back) and ended up sort of wandering around until we spotted the back of a church, which was clearly not Saint Severin, but which at least promised to be warmer and drier than where we were.

So we went around to the front, passing through a gaggle of guys drinking in the churchyard, and discovered that we had found Saint Julien le Pauvre. (The website is put together by a KU person (student, perhaps?), and is really well done. Definitely worth a look.) This was good for two reasons. The first is that it gave me a much better idea of where we were. The second is that it is one of the oldest churches in Paris, and one that I had wanted to see (Blaise, perhaps, not so much). We weren't certain at first whether we would be able to get inside, but eventually found and open door and went it. The church is quite small, and though it was built (in the 12th century) as a Roman Catholic Church, it is now a Melkite Catholic Church. Cherry and I walked through it, and everyone else sat in chairs and admired the view from there. (One must keep moving in churches with Cherry, or she is inclined to squawk, and you will get nasty looks, at best.)

Since we now knew where we were, we were able to find Saint Séverin easily enough, and walked around to the front to find that it was indeed open. Once more, Cherry and I toured the side chapels while everyone else sat in the middle and listened to the organ music and admired the stained glass. (Fortunately there were no "professional shushers" here.) One of the things that I noticed in the side chapels were many plaques recognizing the saints (especially Mary) for their intercession for various things. Most of them were from the late nineteenth and very early 20th century. (Perhaps plaques from other times had been removed to expose paintings or art, or perhaps this was only popular during that time.) A surprising number were grateful for help with exams, probably upwards of 60%. (We also saw these at the Église des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer a couple of summers ago. Most of those were thanks for being rescued from capsized boats.)

Afterwards, we headed for the nearest RER station, and Danny and Blaise continued on to the Sorbonne to get our cheese. The train was packed, and I was fortunate to get to sit most of the way home. (Since Cherry does not reliably hold on while standing on a moving train, she needs to be held if I/we can't sit.) Everyone else was stuck standing up. By 9:30 everyone in our family was in bed. I'm not sure at what point the others crashed.