Paris in July 2020 - Shout it from the Rooftops

It is always fun to look down on a city from above, and Paris is no exception. During a visit to the beloved capital of France people stand in line at the Tour Eiffel to rise up to the top and enjoy the vast views of this sprawling metropolis. The view from Montmartre is just as wonderful (and a lot cheaper!). But what I enjoy is going up to the top of a building that is just slightly higher than its surrounding buildings and get a closer look down from there.

In short, to view the roofs of Paris.

You get a good feel for a city from this viewpoint. On first sight it seems to be a bit chaotic and not necessarily pretty. You might even ask yourself whether these buildings were built without any plans or whether the construction workers ran out of material. But when you look closer you suddenly see some artwork or graffiti - or a rooftop garden where people have all their privacy (except for those nosy tourists gazing over from the Centre Pompidou like I did here).

There are little pieces of heaven, a personal oasis - wouldn't you like to hang out there, sipping a glass of red wine, biting in a fresh baguette and nibbling on some cheese? Sounds like paradise to me.

There are all these chimneys!

And there is also this:

I think these are firewalls - no, I'm not talking about the firewall on your computer that should prevent the onslaught of a computer virus. I'm talking about the original term referring to a wall intended to confine a fire within a line of adjacent buildings, as you can see in the photo above. They also seem to hold the before-mentioned chimneys which probably goes quite well with a firewall.

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It's July and that means I'm once again joining Tamara at Thyme for Tea's Paris in July. If you're fascinated by everything Paris and French, you can find a lot more links to posts there.

The Mother of All Cathedrals

Sometimes things happen thousands of miles away that slice right through your heart.

On Monday after I had left work I saw that my daughter had sent me a text, asking me whether I had heard about the big fire in Notre-Dame. I had not - I don't check my phone at work and I don't go online outside of work-related tasks. Therefore, I was oblivious what had happened that evening in Paris.

I checked in on the European news when I came home, and what I saw filled me with deep sadness. Watching that beautiful steeple fall in the flames... on top, the smoke and the fire raised very unpleasant memories. Someone once said that there is a forest in the roof of the cathedral - centuries-old timber of oaks - and it burned up like that. Half of that roof was still from the 13th century (in comparison, the roof of the Cologne cathedral was built with steel in the 19th century, a decision that was very controversial at that time but proved to be a wise choice).

I saw footage of a robot vehicle sent into the cathedral to retrieve some of the artwork. Firefighters tried to save some of these treasures. It seems that a lot was saved - but there is artwork that is lost forever.

The beautiful stained glass windows - many of them made with medieval glass (just think about that!) - seem to have survived the fire. Those big windows in the choir are stunning and how much do I love the rose windows.

Since there was a lot of renovating and reconstruction work going on (maybe the cause of the fire?) it was just luck that many of the bronze statues on the outside of the church like the apostles were removed just a week before or so.

When I was in Paris the last time I visited Notre-Dame while there was a mass going on inside which added a special atmosphere to this place of worship (and I'm not a religious person).

Like in so many catholic churches and cathedrals in Europe there were many places where you could light a candle. Their warm light put a beautiful glow in so many nooks and corners (and no, as far as I know they didn't cause this fire).

So many details on the outside of Notre-Dame - you could spend a lot of time looking at them and probably still haven't seen all of them.

I do hope they will rebuild. For me it's the heart of Paris. It's on the Île de la Cité where Paris began. Notre-Dame is the mother of all cathedrals, serving as a sample for so many Gothic cathedrals. I can't even imagine what this loss means to the French people.

And I'm forever grateful that my daughter was able to visit Notre-Dame back in the summer of 2014 and could also listen to the magnificent ringing of the bells.

Les Marchés

While writing about the Granville Public Market a couple days ago I remembered the lovely little markets in Paris. There isn't market day every day, but all the little shops - les magasins - display their food in the most beautiful way outside on the street.

Of course, there are lots of fruits!

Charentais melons are my favorite!

Flat peaches - they look odd, but they are delicious!

Des apricots...

et des cerises.

Lots of berries

But this is Paris, after all, and there is so much more to a market beside fruit and vegetable. Cheese, of course - le fromage.

I love love love the selection of cheese!

Yum yum yum!

I could live on cheese alone - and bread.

Then there's the charcuterie:

And, of course, the bread:

The Parisians are not strangers to the sweet stuff either.

And this being Paris, the city of love, the lollipops have to be heart shaped.

After all this eye candy in the markets we need a break and some sorbet, s'il vous plaît!

A Global Cultural Icon Made of Iron

You can't talk about Paris without mentioning the Eiffel Tour, or as the French would say, la Tour Eiffel. Like it or not, it's impossible to ignore it since it is smack in the middle of the city right at the river Seine and visible from so many places.

It was erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the World's Fair and first was criticized by many and loved by not so many. This, however, has changed over the years as the Eiffel Tower has become a global cultural icon of Paris, if not even the entire country of France. It is named after its engineer, Gustave Eiffel (1832 - 1923), whose company designed and built the tower. Of course you know the other famous landmark designed by Gustave Eiffel that is located on Liberty Island!

The pillars in the middle are erected in preparation for the celebration of Bastille Day, July 14th

The Eiffel Tower is 324 meters (1,063 feet) tall and has three levels. You can get up the tower by escalators to all three levels, but you can also take the stairs and climb up to the second level. If you want to get further up to the third level you need to take the lift since the stairs at this height are not open to the public.

I love the intricate work of the wrought iron in the arches - it is so beautiful to look at. I am pretty much in awe of this magnificent work.

When we visited the Eiffel Tower we decided to take the stairs to the second level. This means climbing more than 300 steps, but that sounds worse than it actually was. It's much better than standing in line for the lifts for a long time - it's not even half as crowded on the stairs since most people opt to take the lifts.

Can you see the stairs? You climb up between all the beautiful iron work and can really appreciate this extraordinary engineering. The views in between are pretty cool as well.

On the second level you have to take the lift if you want to get to the top of the tower. We did go up there, however, the views over Paris are much better from the second level.

Place de l'Etoile (or Place Charles de Gaulle) with Arc de Triomphe

There has to be a heart on this landmark of the City of love! Hôtel National des Invalides and Notre Dame to the very left

The Seine with Pont Alexandre III, Jardin des Tuileries and Rue de Rivoli

Montmartre with Sacré-Cœur

At night the tower is beautifully lit up and clearly visible against the dark sky. Simply unforgettable.

Every full hour at night (until midnight I think) it sparkles for about five minutes - quite spectacular!

You want a souvenir of the Eiffel Tour? Look no further... in the colors of your national flag or filled with cognac, you can have it all.

A votre santé!!