While Dad and I were wandering the Champs-Elysees, we
decided to grab some food. We stopped at a place called Quick Hamburger. I know
I had noticed one of these joints in our earlier misadventures in Paris, and it
seemed well-visited. Given all the “fine” dining we had experienced thus far in
Europe, and the fact that I had not had a real hamburger since deploying, this
was a treat. The line wasn’t too long, so getting our orders in didn’t take
much time; although the language barrier came into play. I am not a fan of your
garden variety lettuce that usually comes on a hamburger or sandwich. I prefer
the more potent varieties like spinach or romaine. So, I asked for no lettuce
on my hamburger, and the employee didn’t understand what I meant, although she
spoke English fairly well. To make this short, once we figured out they call
lettuce, “salad”, we were good. There was a seating area down some stairs, which
was convenient because that is also where the restrooms were located. Remember
the whole paying for the privilege to use the restroom? Well, as a customer, you
could use theirs for free, so we took advantage.
After eating, we caught the metro to the Notre Dame
Cathedral. What a wonderful building and church; the architecture, reliefs, and
stained glass! As with most things we saw, the scale was enormous. There must
have been some sort of “keeping up with the Jones’” mentality back then
(although we still have it today!). Of course, there was a line to get inside,
which we originally thought might be a paid event, or would take too long to
get through, but we decided on checking it out. Good call! It was free of
course, but the line didn’t take long at all. Additionally, the interior was
amazing. I think this was the only church I went in, but did not make to the
top portion. When I was outside, I saw people along the upper reaches on some
sort of long balcony, but I didn’t find the entrance. Evidently, it may have
been on the side of the church, rather from inside like all the others. I will
be sure to rectify this next time.
Afterwards, Dad and I just took a rest outside in the square
facing the church. While we were there, we heard, and then saw, planes going
overhead. There were several varieties of aircraft over the next 15-20 minutes
or so. We managed to get some stills and even a couple of videos. Evidently,
this was in preparation for the French National Day (what some call Bastille
Day due to the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, which eventually led to
the celebration) on the 14th of July. I am sure that would have been
a party had we stuck around!
That was the end of July 9, and our time in France. Next
comes Luxembourg and Germany!
Until next time…
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