When I left you yesterday, we were about to see Notre Dame, which is just across the Seine from Shakespeare and Company. But first, we went into the little park across the street from the bookshop.

It’s charming. Paris has a lot of parks, big and small, and I love sitting down on a bench, watching both the people and the birds. In this case, crows were bullying the pigeons, so we’d see large swaths of pigeons fly up and out of the park, returning when it seemed as if the crows had gone. Very entertaining.

From the park, you could see Notre Dame.

As you see, there is scaffolding everywhere.

I’ve realized that daily life in Paris  – for a tourist – is all about finding bathrooms and bottles of water. We had to find a toilette quickly. The closest bridge to Notre Dame has been closed since the fire. There used to be public bathrooms near the church, but that whole area has been blocked off. So we went to a local café, thinking we’d have a bite to eat, as well as avail ourselves of the toilettes. It was a beautiful café and they had a veggie burger which turned out to be the best veggie burger I have ever had – this from a 30 year vegetarian.

Oh my heavens. We made a repeat visit a few days later. So, so good!

From our table: a view of Notre Dame and the bouquinistes on the Seine. If you’re unfamiliar with that word, the bouquinistes are the booksellers that deal in used and antiquarian books along the Seine. Their shops are essentially in a green wooden box. They open up each day and then close and lock the box at night.

This is what they look like when they’re closed. We bought an antique book from one of the bouquinistes, which I’ll share with you later.

And now, some photos of Notre Dame:

From the front of the church, you’d hardly know there had been a fire, though the spire that we saw fall during news accounts of the fire is missing. But from the side and rear, it’s clear that there has been enormous damage. Many windows are missing; one assumes they’re being restored.

The Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge on the Seine, connects to Île de la Cité, the center of what was the medieval city of Paris. Notre Dame is there, along with a palace that surrounds Sainte-Chappelle, the most gloriously beautiful chapel I have ever seen. But that is for another day.

There. A shot of Notre Dame where the damage isn’t as visible. It’s comforting to see that the front view of that gorgeous church is much the same.

We headed back toward the Jardin du Luxembourg. This time, we entered from Rue Vaugirard, which gave us a whole new view of parts of the garden we hadn’t seen. Including this, my now favorite place in the garden.

I don’t mind telling you that we gasped when we saw this: Marie De Medici’s Fountain. This is a sneak peak. I’ll share more with you tomorrow. I have never been so entranced by a fountain in my life. It’s simply exquisite.

More of the fountain and the park and a whole lot of other things tomorrow.

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Happy Saturday.

We were all set to watch Game 7 of the World Series last night but we fell asleep on the sofa at 8:30, woke at 9:30, went to bed and woke up this morning at 4:30.

Jet lag is real, my friends.

So, it’s now 8:30 and I’ve been up for four hours.

Anyway, I’m not sure how much about our trip you’d like me to share. I’m happy posting about it every day for a few days, but if you’re thinking, “We already read about it last year…” I will refrain. Let me know.

Our flight there was an overnight affair and we landed and arrived at our hotel around 11 am the next day. We couldn’t check in until 1, so we had some lunch and then walked around in a sleep-deprived haze. We ended up walking a bit too far, but the Seine was calling to us, so we had to answer.

The weather was cooler than last year, with many days of gray skies, not unlike the weather back home. In fact, the temperatures in Paris were often very close to the temps here in the Hudson Valley. We did have two beautifully sunny days, and a bit of rain, though it didn’t last long. Paris is beautiful and fascinating no matter what the weather and we loved it just as much when skies were gray.

One of the many courtyards in Paris. This one is on the Rue de Bonaparte, a favorite path to the Seine.

Our mantra this time was to just be. We wanted to let the days evolve without muscling through them. For the most part, we were successful. We had some thoughts about where we wanted to go; Shakespeare and Company, the Seine, Jardin du Luxembourg, explore a bit more of the Right Bank – but other than that, we let it happen. I kept a journal, which I now realize was a necessity, because my brain is foggy and I can’t remember chronological order.

More of the courtyard. I love, love, love that door.

We did a little buying; books (both new and old), egg cups, a beautiful vintage bowl, a couple of interesting vintage finds for Don at the Flea Market, and some miniatures. I’ll share all of that with you as I recap our adventure over the next few days.  Our purchases were modest, but meaningful to us.

We had great conversations with the many Parisians we met; all of them, to a person, kind and generous and friendly. My goal in the next year is to work on my command of French. I studied it for 4 years in school, but I’m very rusty. I can get by and I know how to pronounce the words with that French touch (courtesy of my schooling and my work with dialects) but I feel that I put more of an effort in last year than I did this year. I plan to be much more conversant on our next visit to Paris. A good project over the coming winter months.

I’m not sure how to say it, but I feel the most closest to ‘me’ when I’m in Paris. It’s as if I remember who I am. I have such a strong connection to that city that it seems as if I’ve always known it somewhere in my soul. People used to tell me I looked French (never understood that one, though I think it had to do with dark hair and big, dark eyes) or that I seemed European. I don’t know if any of that was true or is true but I do feel a connection to Paris deep within my bones. It became even stronger with this, our second visit. Don loves it, too. He already wants to go back.

I’ll share more. I’m trying to sort through my feelings and impressions and, at the same time, battle jet lag. Tomorrow should be better.

I’m so grateful we went. I came close to cancelling the trip, and I’ve thanked Don over and over for pushing me to go when fear took over my reasoning process. It was a priceless experience.

More tomorrow, my friends.

Happy Thursday.