The islands

Today was all about two islands in the Seine, the Île de la Cité and the Île Saint-Louis. Notre Dame was the big story of the day, although I also heard a lovely concert of chamber music in the Sainte-Chapelle, a gorgeous place whose stained glass glowed with beautiful blues and reds even on a cloudy evening.

I started the morning by climbing the towers of Notre Dame. They route climbers partway up the north tower, across to the south tower, and then up to the top of that. The route up is a spiral stone staircase, with worn spots on the stairs where thousands of people have walked before you. This gargoyle (at the halfway point, partway up the north tower) appears to be bored, but then he's been there for hundreds of years. I was thrilled.

I walked across the area connecting the two towers, which is above the slender pillars over the rose window. The views from there and from the top of the south tower (on the right) were fantastic.

The interior, which I saw in the afternoon, was gorgeous, but it's hard to do it justice in photographs, considering that you've probably already seen it a bezillion times. I will note that one thing I love about this building is that it offers so many different views from different angles. This is just one example.

That's pretty close to the view I saw just before I crossed the bridge to the Île Saint-Louis after climbing the towers. The bridge was closed to cars, and there was music.

How they got that piano there, I do not know, but there was also a clarinet and a double bass, and I listened to the music while sitting at a sidewalk café eating a cheese platter and a salade Auvergnate. Tough work, indeed, but someone has to do it. After lunch, I had ice cream (one scoop of a rich dark chocolate, one scoop of a pleasantly tart raspberry) from Berthillon, which I had heard about before I came. Their fame is well earned. 

After visiting the inside of the cathedral, I walked down to the Square du Vert Galant, one of the more beautiful little parks I've seen in this city (and that's saying something). Then back to the cathedral for a recital of organ music.

This is a bit text-skimpy and picture-heavy, but I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow I'm going to see the Louvre, According to an old Lonely Planet book in the apartment, it's one of the most actively avoided museums in the world because it is so daunting, but I'm sure it will be crowded, and I want to get there early.