Father's Day In Paris

We woke up to the sounds of the sweeping of broken bottles and glasses and the running of several engines of trucks that were either washing the street below or replenishing stocks that were consumed by the mixed crowds of tourists the night before. It was no wonder now to me how rue de la Huchette got its unruly reputation; it was about 6 am!

Luckily for us, our daughter Mia caught up with us on skype which pretty much set us on a cheerful tone for the day. It was also Father’s Day and we were very excited about celebrating an International mass at the famous Cathedral de Notre-Dame. We were ready for a blessed day.

Brabon and I dressed in our best and took off by ten for the eleven o’clock Mass, frankly though this was the earliest we had ever been to mass; except of course for the occasional ones during Easter or Christmas that required our earliest departure to secure seats so we could be comfortable throughout the celebration.

When we arrived at the church, the queue was already taking the length of half the square, quickly, we decided to line up like everyone else. Not knowing whether we were in the right line (there were two lines but we agak agak (estimate) the entry point and also the attires) OR what we were doing was indeed right at all so we resorted to looking at other faces amongst us hoping to sight some friendly ones so we might ask. We noted that in front of us was an American couple and they seemed uncertain. I smiled at them, they SMILED back and just as I was about to speak the lady asked, “Are you attending the 11 o’clock International Mass?” I replied “Yes, we are but we are not sure if we are in the right line”. We laughed and I ventured “The line is moving fast so it looks like we do have time for mistakes!” “Yes” she replied and so we settled in comfortably.


When we finally got into the church we were struck in awe with the gigantic size of this church and its very high ceilings, one truly cannot help but to pause and absorb. The beautiful voices of the choir accelerated the ambiance. The ushers were prompting us to move along and it dawned on us that the nine something mass, was still ongoing. When we smoothed along in waiting, I noted that the other line of people did enter into the church but were cordoned off from the celebration and they were permitted to observe the ongoing masses, muse at the arts and the surrounding chambers in silence. How odd I thought, distracting and like, unholy! Brabon to my dismay was also swept in his own wonder and was clicking away at every opportunity hoping to capture the stunning celebratory moments. I was not impressed with his behaviour but nevertheless was later delighted with his accomplishments. At some point our eyes and minds started to zero in, to the front, we whispered excitedly and agreed to move ahead as quickly as we can once this particular mass was over.

As you can see, the gigantic size of the church is quite overwhelming!

The main altar - note the choir on the left at the far back

Yes, we managed to push forward happily with haste to the 5th pew. The guy on the outer pew was not friendly in spite of us asking politely if we could slide in. He looked through us without saying anything or moving but we slid in anyways. Because I was going to sit next to him during mass, I told myself to "let him go" for leaving his manners at home. The Mass was not celebrated in English but in French, Latin and Italian so the Americans and British like us had to exercise our memory as if it was done in English. It was an amazing experience for us, we had a cardinal, two regular priests, altar men and at least a 35 piece choir in 4 voices. The air organist (if that’s what one calls them) and his repertoire was brilliant. 

Taken during the earlier mass

After mass we stayed on to make some offerings, light some candles and took our time viewing the rest of the cathedral and its many chambers and chapels surrounding it. 

Brabon

Keeping our promises by making offerings and lighting candles for family and loved ones

Another point for offerings

Another point for offerings - Brabon did this one!

A chapel within the Cathedral

Stained Glass

Beautiful Paintings

An old chandelier - the concept is unimaginable! 

Amazing Sculptures

Face to face Confessionals

When we finished, Brabon wanted to take photos of the side views of the cathedral so I went across the street to window shop for souvenirs. Brabon bought his French beret.

Side view

Side view of the same side

Brabon with his French beret taken at the apartment

Once we were satisfied, we returned to the apartment to have a change of clothes and off we headed to check out the physical address of my 1st cooking class at Liege for tomorrow. It was fairly easy and we made only one mistake of taking the opposite direction. When we arrived at the exact location we were pleased with ourselves. Next was the Paris Jazz Festival!

The route to take to the festival can be confusing and there are no guides with plain and simple intructions on how to get there. For Instance, the only indication we got was “within the Bois De Vincennes, Le Parc Floral de Paris is...” It didn’t say “take the metro and go direct to Chateau de Vincennes and get OFF at that Station then find your way there!” We had asked many Parisians where this Parc Flora was and honestly none was of any help. They did two things, sent us off to other Parks or were kind enough to say "sorry" and shrug. Assuming from that indication, we did take that route, got off and lost at 2 stations before Chateau de Vincennes before we eventually figured it out. By the time we got to the right STOP, we discovered that we had to walk about 2 kilometers to Parc Floral which to our annoyance was in the same vicinity as Chateau de Vincennes!

As we were approaching the concert area we suspected that the first jazz session was just over but we hurried along anyways to catch what we hoped for, the next performance. True enough, the audience were staying put, it was full.

The "Perfect" audience

If you asked me who were playing, I have to honestly say I still have no idea who they were. All I know was that they were good musicians and I was happy to have made it there. I have to also mention that there’s nothing quite delightful like a jazz audience. They are known to be well mannered, quiet and they surely know when to show their appreciation for the music and musicians. So on the rare occasion if you do see or hear someone with a big mouth or a loud group chatting above the music, they’re just pretending to be jazz enthusiasts. This was great music and a perfect audience!


Brabon and I love gardening, flowers and orchids so when we do travel we look forward to visiting as many Parks and Gardens as we can. We were rather disappointed though with Parc Flora, nothing special and nothing what the guides described or promised. We left after a few turns! Having said that though, it is a great venue for Music Concerts or Festivals. 

We were not sure which exit to take out of the park and in the end we ended up walking much further back to the station. Tired and eager to get back, imagine our dismay when we did not have enough coins to buy our tickets.  Why didn't these machines accept notes and how much worst can it get, there are no Kedai Runcit or Seven Elevens in the whole of France to help us out! I suggested to Brabon to buy a bottle of drink at one of the cafes to get change and can you believe it, they serve all drinks in glasses. So I suggested to him again to order a beer, quickly drink so we can go and I seriously don't know how but we got stuck with a guy at the bar for 40 minutes and when we eventually got away, we were literally running to the station - he mentioned something about going the same way! We were relieved when we got on the train and mind you, I couldn't help but look around every now and then to check if he would suddenly appear out of nowhere. Don't get me wrong, he was not a bad dude but you know what I mean?