France - Day 1, 3/30/2026 - Paris
The old girl cleaned up good.
Norte Dame, that is, not Judy, although she’s lookin’ pretty good herself.
From the devastating fire of 2016 until now is nothing short of a miracle, or at least a demonstration of what inspired and dedicated effort can produce.
For us, our visit had special significance since we visited Notre Dame in 2016 with 12-year-old Reagan. Standing in the same spot brought back fond memories of our first grandchild trip.
In some respects, the rebuilt cathedral is better than the old. Eight hundred years of soot and grime are gone, replaced by stonework as clean as can be. Some of the stained glass was apparently saved, but much of the woodwork, especially, and much of the stonework is new.
The crowd waiting to get in was at first intimidating. Entrance is free and while you can book an entry in advance, most people don’t. But we waited not much more than 10 minutes. I guess lots of folks want to see the miracle on the Ile de la Cite.
Notre Dame is a short walk from our hotel, which is found on the island Ile Saint Louis. A short bridge across the Seine brings you to the cathedral on Ile de la Cite .
After Notre Dame, we crossed over to the Left Bank and to the Latin Quarter. That’s where we stayed with Reagan. But 10 years of change and 10 years of brain fog didn’t let us find the neighborhood or the hotel. The Latin Quarter is a hot tourist destination these days, being full of restaurants and shops and close to Notre Dame.
It’s springtime in Paris the trees and flowering shrubs are leafing out But it’s chilly; temps in the 50s
It was now about 3:30 PM and we were starting to fade, lie flat seat sleep notwithstanding. So we found a sidewalk crepe shop and each had one. Nutella with strawberries on Judy’s and Nutella and coconut on mine. That’s what Rick Steves says you’re supposed to do in Paris: sit in the sun, kick back and watch the people pass by. That’s exactly what we did.
Our trip from Boston to Paris was mostly uneventful. The eventful part was when, deplaning in Lisbon, Judy’s passport came up missing. A frantic search of luggage was fruitless. “Don’t worry,” said our flight attendant. “There’s a 99% chance it’s on the plane.” She found it under Judy’s seat.
Why Lisbon? Because they had the best business class fare and we have a soft spot for Portugal, although our spot hardened a bit after the long line at customs.
TAP Portugal did a fine job with comfortable accommodations on board. We can’t speak for the food service since we opted for lobster and crab cake sandwiches at Legal Seafood before the flight, thereby maximizing lie-flat sleep time. We didn’t get up in time for breakfast.
Our trip actually started Friday. We flew to Boston, leaving at 7 AM, picked up our Tesla in Melrose at 11 and drove to Lewiston, ME to visit cousin David Dexter at his rehab facility. We made it back to Melrose by 7 PM in time for a friends gathering Rebecca had arranged. A long day but rewarding.
Saturday included a pancake breakfast with the family and an afternoon movie (Project Hail Mary). We saw Esme in goal at her soccer game Sunday morning but missed Griffin ‘s game (he scored twice) - the timing was too tight. Rebecca drove us to the airport for our Sunday evening departure.
We’re at our hotel now. Judy’s napping while I blog. The hotel is getting us a cab at 6:30 PM for our Three Course Dinner Cruise tonight. Why we’re going out for dinner on a cruise boat is beyond me, given that we’ll be dining on a boat for the next two weeks. But it sounded like a good idea at the time and we’ll get to see a bit of Paris at night.
Tomorrow, it’s a walking food tour in the morning before we report for duty on board in the afternoon.
The dinner cruise was fine - descent food and nice views down to our island - Ile Saint Louis But another kafufel- I had booked the trip for the next night They had an extra table and sufficient grub to accommodate us
NO PICTURES YET - but some the best minds at Squarespace are working on it - I hope stay tuned
PICTURES - FINALLY - NO FOOLIN’ - APRIL 1, 2026
