Nearby neighborhood meandering

We were up early to head for the market. We immediately discovered that there are far, far fewer tourists at Notre Dame at 0700 than there are at say 1200.The church was open, inside they were preparing for mass. We took advantage of the opportunity by delaying the trip to the market to take a look around inside.

When your place of residence is about a short Paris block from the corner of that big stone building it seems likely that there will be more chances for a better photo.Both of the first two days have featured rain, proving the value of my new rain coat. But because of the rain I have not had my good camera out of the case yet. With my good camera I have considerably more control over f-stop and shutter speed. I will try at least once more when I have better equipment.

But for now, the ancient north rose window.Just across the river we come across le Eglise Saint Julien le Pauvre, one of the oldest in Paris, dating from between 1165 and 1220. In the next door park there is a 400 year old tree.As ancient as the tree is it was planted after the church was already old.

Across the street is 14 rue Saint Julien le Pauvre. This house was the residence of Isaac Laffemas, chief of police under Cardinal Richelieu in the 17th century. He was the executioner of Louis XIV.Eglise Saint Severin, finished in the 16th century in the Gothic style.There were two main north south thoroughfares through the left bank beginning in Roman times. The Haussmann reconstruction added the Haussmann dead straight Boulevard Saint Michel. One is the road up the hill from Petit Pont. A street still exists on the ancient route, here named Rue du Petit Pont but called Rue Saint Jacques for most of its length. Here it intersects Rue de la Huchette.In the 12th century Rue de la Huchette was the continuation of a footpath from the abbey of Saint Germain to the main settlement area of the city. The footpath became a street around 1210. The street has had the same name, rue de la Huchette since 1284.

This is a small park in Place Maubert. Place Maubert was a scholastic center in the 12th and 13th century with lectures given in the open air.The square later became a place of torture and execution. So many Protestants were burnt there in the 16th century that it became a place of pilgrimage for the followers of the new faith.

We walked a bit further along and came to Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet. It was constructed beginning in 1656.The front facade, however, dates from only 1934. This is a picture of the back side of the church.We walked on over to Ile de Saint Louis where we encountered this delivery truck.Note that they are delivering not just any "Fatboy". They are delivering "The Original Fatboy".

We watched the Tour first on France 3 then on France 2. I am a fan of Thomas Voeckler but I must say I find no honor in his performance today. While it is true that he has retained the yellow jersey he has done so without defending the jersey. Instead he left defense entirely up to second place Cadel Evans. Eventually Evans had to try to defend his position in the general classification regardless of the actions or lack of actions from the race leader. Wheel sucking up the final climb of the day to keep the lead does not bring honor on the yellow jersey.

Bravo to Andy Schleck for grabbing the race by the throat.