Day 2:
Historic Heart of Paris
Jardin du Luxembourg; 10/20/25
While I'd spent two days starting to feel like I was comfortable in the city, this day was the start of really getting into feeling like I was diving into Paris itself. I have worked in historic preservation for most of my education and career, so getting into the historic heart of the city was one of the days that I had been most excited about since signing up for the tour.
Sainte-Chapelle
The first stop was Saint-Chapelle. Climbing up a spiral staircase to space that appears to be entirely constructed of stained glass was absolutely astonishing (if you go - be sure to turn around to see the next group of people entering the space with the same jaw-dropping expressions on their face that you probably had a couple of moments prior).
The stained glass is beautiful, but does require maintenance, which is something I have some experience. They were working on one of the windows towards the front of the church when we walked in. However, I found the way that they had managed to disguise the scaffolding with mirrored sheeting delightful (you can see this in the photo above and to the right). While on closer examination, the reflections are obvious, it really preserved the initial impression you get when entering the space by preserving the appearance of light and color, instead of ugly scaffolding and the reality of people working to preserve the structure.
Notre Dame
The next stop was Notre Dame (just the exterior - don't worry, I got to go inside later in the week). Like many of us, I'd watched the fire in shock and had been following the reconstruction efforts in the years since. As someone who has been involved in historic preservation efforts following destructive events, it was fascinating to watch how the work was completed (and completed so quickly).
Jardin du Luxembourg
After more walking through historic streets, we were free after lunch. The weather was fine, but cloudy, and rather than trying to visit the Arc de Triomphe and ending up in clouds, I took the advice of Rolinka and picked up lunch (jambon-beurre, pain au chocolat, and an espresso) and wandered over to the Jardin du Luxembourg for a picnic. Of course, the weather cleared up as soon as I sat down with my sandwich.
It turned out to be a lovely afternoon and walking on dirt paths was a welcome change of pace from the cobblestones and hard surfaces from the earlier part of the day.
Shopping!
I did not particularly go to Paris to shop. I enjoyed looking in windows, but, when you're traveling with a carry-on, there's limited space for new acquisitions. However, I had looked at the shops on the Rue Cler before arriving and had excitedly noted the presence of a Mariage Frères around the corner from our hotel. As someone who loves their tea, this was always going to be a visit, and then became one of the highlights of my trip.
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First - walking into the store smells like walking into a giant box of their tea.
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Second - knowing that I would be visiting the store, and attempting to purchase tea, I made a point of practicing tea-purchasing conversations in French. As always, it was completely obvious that I was American and the salesperson offered to speak in English, to which I replied, somewhat disappointed, that I had been practicing my French. He gestured for me to continue, and was very gracious in speaking simply, slowly, and clearly, allowing us to complete a discussion of tea varieties and the transaction almost entirely in French (there was one point that was a bit beyond my vocabulary, and my German also slipped in occasionally), which ended up being one of the moments that I am most proud of on the trip.
