Fire in Notre Dame

Monday was very normal for me - with a six o'clock wake up, long day at work and getting back home around 7 pm - until H sent me a message that the cathedral of Notre Dame is burning. At first I was not sure if that was true and what kind of a fire, but after a quick googling and reading news and seeing videos, it was a shock. Such a beautiful and historical building and such huge flames all around the roof. I was at home in the Southern boarder of Paris and our windows are also toward South, so we couldn't see even the smoke above the city. We just kept reading news from around the world of what has happened and is still happening...

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/notre-dame-fire/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1_wLH4jQWYSd64hXHX2kA9RUzzpnvyeaUFuqtBOdeTeJOGIgDfdTmz7cY

Sky News' photo of the fire.

On Tuesday evening I was about to meet H in the center anyway, so we decided to go and see the damage with our own eyes. The train didn't stop at Notre Dame's station so we walked from the previous one. The riverbank was full of people, emergency vehicles, cameras and reporters. The closest bridges to the island in the middle of the river were closed, so we pushed ourselves through the mass and found a way to go down right to the river. The cathedral's stone structures were quite the same as before but all the roof was gone. The scaffolding that had been used in the reconstruction was standing by itself without the support. Later we saw some people walking on the top of Notre Dame with bright flash lights examining what the situation there is now.

Some people had brought flowers along the river.
From the front the cathedral looked like before.

From the side or behind you could see that all the wooden parts were gone
and only the stone was still there.

Here as a comparison photo I took 1,5 weeks ago when the roof was still there.
The biggest visible change is the loss of the high spire.

The news about Notre Dame has shaken the whole world. The French president Emmanuel Macron established fundraising to repair Notre Dame and said that the cathedral would be rebuilt in five years. We will see if that is possible but at least the repair fund has already reached a billion euros within these two days.

Going around the sights of Paris with my friend

It has been an exceptionally long time since I seriously wrote here something. But during the last weekend I went around a lot! That is thanks to my lovely friend who came from Spain to visit Paris for a long weekend. She stayed at our place which meant also later evenings for me, but at the same time made it easier to go around Paris together. After my work on Saturday, I headed to Luxembourg park where I met with my friend already for the third time during her au pair year in Europe. We bought rose-shaped ice-creams near Pantheon and started a busy sight-seeing  weekend.

They say that a picture says more than a thousand words, so I let the photos be the main part of this blog text.

(Anteeksi, olen viime aikoina jättänyt kirjoittamatta suomeksi. Ajan puute tai laiskuus rajoittaa ajatusten jakamista kahdella eri kielellä. Jos jostakusta tuntuu, että olisi mukava lukea edelleen suomeksi, niin saatte antaa vapaasti palautetta ja voin sen yhä tehdä.)

This church looks very small in reality because of the fact
that it is located next to the huge Pantheon.

Notre Dame

The first real sights we went to see together were the river Seine and Notre Dame cathedral.

The line to enter Notre Dame was very long
but it moved fast, as well.

The inside of Notre Dame is not much different
from any other church.

Louvre

Some big sights in Paris are open on the first Sunday of the month only during the winter time (November-March) but Louvre offers an alternative chance to see its art for free in the Saturday evenings during the summer. So at 6 pm we joined a long line that was squirming in front of the pyramid and then continuing across the yard. After a half an hour we got inside and headed to the most famous wing (that I and H have tried to avoid until now). But it was not too busy to go freely around.

Liberty leading the people by Eugene Delacroix.

What could be this room with many people but empty walls..?

The whole room was of course given to this lady.

Venus de Milo

We wanted to see the Egyptian part of Louvre
which ended up to be quite interesting.

This was almost like being in a store:
"Which coffin would you like to buy?"

A harp from hundreds of years ago before Christ.

We got amused for seeing theses cute little frogs.

Eiffel tower & Arc de Triomphe

On Sunday we left to see more of the famous attractions, starting from the most famous one.

It always amazes me how French gardens
have even the tree tops cut completely straight.

Arc de Triomphe

Names of generals who died in the wars defending France.

We walked 200 steps to the top of the structure.

The view over Paris from Arc de Triomphe.

...and towards Eiffel tower.

...and to Champs-Elysees and Sacre Coeur.

Macarons, Pompidou, Eglise Saint-Eustache

My friend wanted to visit the original macaron
cookies store along Champs-Elysees.

The colors of these!
Price: 2,10€ per each when not in a nice box.

Art in Pompidou, the museum of modern art.

"My flower bed" by Yeyoi Kusama @ Pompidou. 

Saint-Esutache church next to Les Halles station. It is huge.

Montmartre and a latin bar

In the early evening we traveled to the Northern Paris, to Montmartre hill. There we admired the Sacre Coeur church, the lovely and lively streets and the view to the city. Afterwards we returned to have a dinner at the very centre and had bad luck choosing a restaurant. The 3-dish menu was 15€ but we were not satisfied with the quality of the food nor with the service. Next time we will surely remember to check the review from Google maps. That's because this restaurant had got only 1,9/5 stars from other customers. Later we decided to stop by in a small latin bar to enjoy the music and dance a bit. Eventually that made us to forget our tired minds and legs completely and we really wished that we wouldn't have needed to wake up at 6 in the next morning. The small place made everyone to be one group enjoying the fun atmosphere together and all those strangers we met, were also sad we had to leave early. That became a place I hope to visit again.

There are quite some street art in Montmartre.
This elder gentleman looked so French to us.

My rabbit was okay but my starter crepe was very dry
and my friend's onion soup terrible, too.

A new job?

It's been a long time since I wrote last time. There was not much happening in addition to my everyday life at work but now I've got some news to tell. We have talked during the last week with the headmaster of our school when she has told about international "friendship schools" in other countries. She told about the option to transfer to these friendship schools and I cannot deny having thoughts about getting away from Paris. (Yes, Paris is a lovely place to visit, but definitely not a place for me to live in.)

So this morning I spoke again with my boss and she said there would be a position for me starting in September in Tarragona, a beach city in Spain! Doesn't sound bad, right? Now I need to really think it through but what a chance, indeed! To my ear it sounds better than Paris but of course it would mean finding an apartment there, getting used to a new language around me again, just after I started understanding and being able to communicate better in French...

Here's one good thing I will miss when I move out from Paris one day (whether it's to go to Spain after the summer or some other time to move to Finland or some other place): Paris is beautiful. When I have time and energy, there's so much to see and experience in this city with a unique atmosphere! Last weekend I saw some swans in Seine next to Louvre.

Edit: APRIL'S FOOL! SORRY BUT THIS ISN'T TRUE. Except for the last part. There really are some things I'll miss once I move out from here one day.