One New Thing

After our return to France from Kenya, we had three beautiful, summerlike days before rain moved in with a vengeance on September 21.

Relaxing on CARIB after the hours of air and train travel to
get from Kenya to Toul. When the rain system moved in and
refused to move on, it was nice to have a photo to remember
what a sunny and warm day looked like.

It's a good thing we'd completed so many of our outdoor projects before we left for Africa, and used the three "good days" to finalize most of the rest, because our last week in Toul was absolute weather misery. After the dry summer the rain was much needed, but for six solid days it was grey, cloudy, cool, and wet--sometimes very, very wet. Still, we managed to work around the periods of rain--and sometimes through the rain--to run final errands and enjoy a couple of dinners out in Toul. I also managed to finally check out an old cemetery that we'd seen from the train on one of our recent trips. It turned out to be what remained of Toul's Jewish cemetery of the 18th and 19th centuries. Toul used to have a relatively large Jewish population, but no longer. The synagogue in town is a historic monument but is now privately owned and is no longer in use as a center of worship.

The old section of the cemetery with the stones from the 18th and 19th centuries. The railroad
track separates this cemetery from the main city cemetery. There is a newer section to this cemetery
for contemporary use. Unlike the main city cemetery, the gate to the Jewish cemetery was locked.
Any entry would have to be arranged with the local Jewish religious association.

The most significant event of the week was that, on Thursday, September 25, our new bow thruster unit was finally installed. Yes! When we return in the spring, we might actually be able to make a relatively quick start to our cruising--water, weather, and everything else permitting, of course.

The sun finally returned to Toul on Saturday, September 27, the day of our departure. Our boat neighbor at TSNI was kind enough to give us a ride to the train station, and by late afternoon we were in Paris. In our summers in France, we usually include a visit to Paris, even if it's just for a few hours. We love soaking up the atmosphere, and with so much to see and do, we always try to find a way to fit in "one new thing" during that time. This year, our intent was to pay a visit to the recently reopened Notre Dame Cathedral to see what it looked like after the repairs made subsequent to the 2019 fire. As things turned out, we got a "bonus", in that the south tower of the cathedral opened for climbs to the top about a week before we arrived in Paris. I was able to book our free "skip the line" tickets for a September 28 entry into the sanctuary of Notre Dame, as well as buy tickets for a September 29 tower climb. The rest of our short time in the city we left unscheduled, giving us flexibility to visit with our host Jonathan and also meander through some favorite neighborhoods.

Jonathan hosted us on Aleau, the French residence
of Jonathan and Jeannie (who was out of town). They
cruise on Aleau in the summer and spend the fall, winter,
and early spring in Paris at the Port de Arsenal.

 

The port was filling up with boats returning
to their winter moorings at the Arsenal.

A stop in Paris would not be complete without partaking of "Breakfast in America," so that's where we dined on Sunday morning before heading off to Notre Dame Cathedral for our early afternoon visit. My first look at Notre Dame was in January 1976 on my first European trip. I was lucky enough to enter it again--with Lon this time--in September 2018, several months before the fire in mid-April 2019. In both of those visits, the number of other visitors inside at the same time was small, and the church had a real sense of "age" about it (perhaps due to the need for a good cleaning!). We had high hopes for this year's visit, but came away a bit disappointed. The interior was beautiful--light and bright--but that may have diminished the sense of how old Notre Dame actually is (a masterpiece of Gothic architecture constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries). The biggest issue for us, however, was the presence of a large number of people doing the same thing we were. We're not big fans of crowds, and traveling on the barge "off the beaten path" has probably made us spoiled for uncrowded historic and cultural sites.

Left: a 2018 view toward the Notre Dame Cathedral choir.
Right: a similar perspective in 2025.

Left: interior view from the front entry toward the apse and choir.
Right: In the transept, with Joan of Arc at far left and views down a side aisle and the center nave.

Upper: the crowds were heaviest at the entry, as the center nave was
roped off and visitors were directed toward the north aisle.
Bottom: 14th century wood carvings of the life of Christ.

View of the north rose window. Crafted in the mid-13th century, it is the 
 only one of the three rose windows in the cathedral to retain its original
glass, with most of the 13th C glasswork still intact.

Left: the cathedral was reopened to visitors in December 2024, but there is still work going on,
as the scaffold on the back exterior of the building attests.
Right: the front/west facade of the cathedral and the main entrances. The south tower that
we would be climbing on the 29th is the tower to the right in the photo.

After we left the cathedral, we took a slightly roundabout way back to the port. One of the primary cultural sites of Paris is the ultra-modern Pompidou Centre, named in honor of the former President of France who commissioned the building in the 1970's. Among other things, it houses the largest museum for modern art in Europe. Because we're not fans of modern art, we'd never even walked by the building in all of our trips to Paris, but as it is fairly close to Notre Dame it seemed a good time to do so. Had we wanted to see the art our timing would have been horrible, as the building has just closed for a 5-year renovation,

Composed entirely of steel, the Pompidou Centre is an
"inside-out" building, with its structural system, 
mechanical systems, and circulation found on the 
exterior of the building. It was controversial when it opened
 because the architecture does not blend with the
 neighborhood in which it resides.

We were probably more intrigued with the "Stravinsky Fountain" adjacent
to the Pompidou Centre. Dating to 1983, it is lively mix of 16 sculptures
comprised of either colorful resin or metal. The fountain is so named 
because the sculptures are inspired by the music of Igor Stravinsky.

There is nothing better after a day of sightseeing than a relaxing dinner in a casual French bistro.

Monday, September 29--another gorgeous day, this time with a more French twist to breakfast at the Cafe de l'Industrie in the 11th arrondissemont. We got eggs, bacon, fresh-squeezed orange juice, a hot beverage, a baguette, and a kitty cat who had the run of the place (not jumping on tables, just walking around being curious) all for a very reasonable price. Around midday, as we made our way to our tower-climbing appointment at Notre Dame Cathedral, we had time enough to walk slowly through the Ile Saint-Louis, one of two natural islands in the Seine with a quiet, village-like feel and elegant 17th and 18th century townhouses. We came across the small parish church of Saint Louis-en-l'Ile, originally constructed in the 17th century, but with a current interior that was "modernized" post-Revolution and has a more baroque feel. We think we were in the church in a previous visit to Paris, but the memory is hazy and I, at least, had the impression that it may have been undergoing renovation at the time.

The interior of Saint Louis-en-l'Ile was quite spectacular. The most recent major improvement to
the church was the German organ (seen in the photo at right) that was added in 2005.

But on to the main event of our day, visiting the Notre Dame bell towers. After a 6-year closure, the towers were reopened on September 20, concurrent with the 2025 European Heritage Days. Despite the need to climb 424 steps from ground to the belfry of the south tower, it was one of the easier tower climbs we've ever done, due to the chance to take a breather at several points along the route.

A model of the climbing route: enter at "1"; climb to "2", where one can
catch their breath and buy souvenirs, if desired; continue on a stone spiral
staircase to "3", an exhibition room showcasing Notre Dame's history, and
the start of a new double-helix staircase which offers separate spirals for
ascending and descending; up the wooden staircase to "4", for an 
up-close-and-personal look at the chimeras (fantastic creatures) for which
Notre Dame is famous; and the final ascent to "5" at the top, with its
fantastic views over the city of Paris. 

This is the gallery at stop "3", where the double-helix staircase starts. We
had a bit of a wait here (and further up at "4") because there are limits on
how many people can occupy the summit at one time. 

Not the top yet, but still some amazing views from stop "4". The chimeras (gargoyles)
stem from the last half of the 19th century. There are 54 such creatures on Notre Dame. Some of 
the original figures were too badly damaged in the fire to be reinstalled, and were replaced
with replicas, however, the two seen at left appeared to be originals.

Finally! Made it to the top, and Lon doesn't even
look to be out of breath.

Left; looking west down the Seine toward modern La Defense.
Right: looking over the new roof and spire to the east.

More views from the top of the south tower.

On the way back down, the route took us into the south belfry to view the two largest and most famous of Notre Dame's bells, Emmanuel and Marie.

I've no idea at this point which is Emmanuel and which is Marie.

From this point, we passed along a new terrace that brought us from the south tower into the north tower. 

Portals were available for viewing the restored 
wooden roof structure, the "forest."  Prior to the fire,
 the roof was made of oak trusses that had been added to the 
cathedral between 1220 and 1240. As such, it was one of
the oldest frameworks in Paris. The new roof is composed 
of oak from trees that were 150-200 years old, 
and installed using medieval techniques.

We enjoyed the tower visit much more than the "regular" Notre Dame visit of the previous day. The number of visitors allowed was greatly restricted in the tower and the views were spectacular. 

After the climb, a stop at Amorino Gelato on
 Ile Saint-Louis, for the best ice cream/gelato
 we've had in quite some time. 

We returned to Aleau to complete our final packing, say "thanks and so long" to Jonathan, and then the mechanics of returning to the U.S. took their usual form: metro to the airport and overnight at a hotel there before our departure on September 30. We had an unfortunate delay out of CDG which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Atlanta, but as there are several flights between Atlanta and Tampa-St. Pete each day, we weren't too late getting home. Our timing was impeccable in at least one respect, in that we managed to get home before the U.S. government shutdown. 

Our attention turns now from Europe and boating to life in the U.S. Our Florida fall/winter activities have already started. We're still dealing with jet lag, of course, but at least we've adjusted enough so that we're sleeping past 3 or 4 a.m. There's been a bit of "sticker shock" at the grocery store. We were unpleasantly surprised to see that an AC unit on the roof had decided to leak into our kitchen recently, so that had to be dealt with, as well as some plumbing fixtures that didn't like being inactive for several months. Annoying, yes, but all minor in the grand scheme of things. (For the moment, we're trying not to think too much about the "grand scheme of things" issues.) We've already given some thought to next season, but not too much, so this blog is now suspended until 2026.