Day 226 Mar 18 2015 Paris France

First stop in Paris

On the glass floor of the Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame

Eating street food  in Paris

Sacre Coeur Basilica

Day 226  Mar 18  2015  Paris France

We landed in Paris at 6:30 am.  David got in a line at immigration by himself and I was expecting that he would have some troubles not being with his parents or guardians.  I was surprised when he was not asked any questions other that if he was on vacation and how long he was going to stay in the country. We took the metro to our apartment where we dropped off the luggage.  We then went to the Eiffel tower and Notre Dame by metro.  We walked from Notre Dame to the Bastille expecting to see some ruins but there was nothing remaining other than a few rocks.  We did see the July Column which is a monument to the “three glorious days of July 27, 28 and 29 which saw the fall of King Charles X and the start of the “July Monarchy” of Louis-Philippe.  We then took the metro to Sacre Coeur basilica which is built on the highest hill in Paris.  It was a nice view and you could see a large part of Pairs through the smog.   We paid the admission to the crypt and were not impressed, it was just a bunch of altars inside the basement of the church.  Definitely not as interesting as some of the churches we saw in South America. The more churches that I visit the more I am disillusioned with the opulence and greed of the Catholic Church.  It seems there is/was a race to see which order can build the most ornate structure.   It does not follow the teaching of sell your possessions and give to the poor.  Would the money spent on these structures not have been better put to use in education, agriculture and other things.