I enrolled in a walking tour class that focuses on the Medieval Architecture of Paris and the surrounding region. I was trying to be adventurous, and thought about an art history class in french, as mon Professeur, Benoit recommended, but I lost my nerve and instead went with the english version.
The first week was kind of a review for those of us who have been on many walking tours in Paris, and Orielle, the guide, a british woman who has now lived in Paris for over 25 years, has a great ability to connect architecture to the personaities that commissioned and designed it.
There are a lot of reasons for me to take this 6 week class, with the follow-up 6 additional weeks during the winter. One is that it gets me out of the house and into Paris, a hard thing to do when you don't have anyone to pal with. But also, because it is a class, not just a one day tour, I have met two new people who are living in Paris and like architecture. Lastly, I am trying not to shirk the responsibility handed to me by my family and friends who think that having only to explore Paris everyday would be a dream come true.
Our first exploration was of the Paris cathedral Notre Dame. Orielle compared it to the other cathedrals constructed during NDs painstakingly long period of construction - something like 200 years, and it was built on the site of Roman Church, that was no longer in vogue.
The beauty of starting at ND is that underneath it was found the archeological remains of the early city, and it appears that ND is on the center of the original sight of Paris. Orielle focused on the architecture for this tour, but there is a lot more in that church, like the stained glass and the relics (the crown of thorns) that hold a fascinating story, even if you don't believe in all the allegory around it.
Ironically, there was a woman whom I had met through my french teacher on this tour, and she brought another friend, so already I made a new friend, and had something else to look forward to for the second week.
