Blast from the Past ~ Travelogue

Throwback Thursday - More aerogrammes from France, 1977....

October 7, 1977 - I go to the market for daily shopping.  It's almost similar to Mexican markets, except clean and not usually situated in a square!  Each store has its own specialty/product...boulangerie - bread; cremerie - butter, milk & cheese; boucherie - meat; patisserie - deserts, etc.  Of course, everything was fresh.  Marie-Charlotte does her shopping everyday (I'm just thankful I'm not a French housewife).  Once we got back home, she showed me how to make mayonnaise - which is really very simple. 

On Sunday, I decided to begin at Notre Dame.  I arrived at the end of the Grand Messe communion time.  I stayed seated for the next mass.  The organ certainly filled the cathedral and brought reminiscences of greater times.  That's what I really enjoy doing - imagining what has occurred here before - the crowning of Henri VI in 1430 as King of France - the coronation of Napoleon & Josephine and de Gaulle coming to Notre Dame after the liberation of France from the Germans in WWII.

If it had been a sunnier day, the rose windows would have been beautiful.  The church was cold - a penetrating cold - but the organ music virtually eliminated that feeling.  I went up the tower - 422 steps to the top, a total of 69 meters, so I definitely had my exercise for the day. The steps become increasingly narrow and dark.   The view from the top of Notre Dame is one of the best in Paris.  The gargoyles are especially intriguing - angry, intimidating, certainly not reminiscent of a loving God.  I went into the Bell Tower again - the South Tower.  The bells only ring on holidays and festival days so I want to listen for them on Toussaint - November 1st.

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