Sculpture...everywhere

We started our second day with a leisurely breakfast in the hotel's breakfast room in the basement.  It's a lovely space, but it was impossible to not notice the pride with which the room's attendant took his responsibility.  After each and every guest visited the array of offerings, he would pass by and rearrange things so that no guest would ever approach a 'picked over' table. 

Then, it was off to Notre Dame.  I may not have mentioned this, but the world's smallest hotel room has a view of the towers of Notre Dame. Pics will never do justice to the majesty of the place.

Our museum pass affords us access to  the bell towers.  Why not visit? BECAUSE IT IS A MILE IN THE SKY, that's why.  St. Joan told me not to be a wuss.  One has to listen to Joan.

So up it was.  I mean,WAY up.  Fortunately, I didn't get a glimpse of where I was or I would never had made it.  (my phone let me know that I had reached my fitness goal for the day by mid-climb.)  I'll give Joan some credit.  It was worth it.  Amazingly uncrowded, there's a net keeping a semblance of safety for those of us with fear of heights.  MORE amazingly, they felt the need to put up signage telling people not to stick their selfie sticks through the net because...what could POSSIBLY go wrong?  The views were extraordinary.

 

We were atop the tower at noon.  The sound of the bells was incredible.  I am sure those arriving at the top of their climb at 1 feel cheated (yes, you...Cindy).  There were another couple opportunities to go higher.  One allowed you to climb a wooden staircase in the belfry up to the bells themselves.  Access to the climb was through a bizarrely short doorway.  Yes, you had to hunch over to get through it! Seriously!  We'll never know what was atop the other climb because Joan wasn't there to egg us on any further.  The descent was a breeze. After hitting the fitness goal for the day, it was off to lunch under some flowering trees at a café in Place St. Michel.  Yes, the chestnuts ARE in blossom:

 



I had a light lunch of escargots with garlic, butter and parsley (sopped up with great bread, of course) and a glass of Sancerre.  Terry had the croque monsieur.  While laughing at our good fortune and wondering how the moment could become more idyllic...an accordion player walking down the street started 'Le Vie en Rose'.

It was time to move on.  The Louvre it was.  We've been to the Louvre several times before.  It's overwhelming.  Fortunately, we had the museum pass that affords you access without waiting in line, so you can pop in for a focused visit as frequently as you want.  Sculpture it was to be.  Even that category is too broad, so we stuck with Italian, Greek and French works.  We were there hours.  What is noticeable, is that the crowds everywhere seem sparse...at least in most places.  There was a crowd to see this girl:

 



Last night, we had dinner at Le Petit Zinc--an Art Nouveau temple.  Terry had smoked salmon and steak with béarnaise.  I opted for white asparagus and mackerel, followed by a roast veal.  Despite being stuffed, dessert called.  Naturally, Terry had an assortment of ice creams garnished with 'fingers' of meringue.  I had the crepes Suzette.  We rolled back to the hotel to lapse into comas.