The following day, we started our walk in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. We began at Saint-Jacques Tower. It used to be a 16th century church, but was torn down after the Revolution. It looks really weird because you expect there to be a church connected to the tower, but there isn't. Now it is just a little park in the center of a very busy part of Paris. After that, we made our way down a street I was very excited to see: Rue Nicolas Flamel! I knew that Nicolas Flamel was a real man and really was an alchemist (like in Harry Potter), but it was cool to see physical proof of his existence. We also walked by his house later in the day. I was so jazzed! Of course, Flamel lived in the 1300's so the building was not the actual house he lived in, but was built on top of the exact location. His house is now a really fancy and expensive restaurant. Too expensive for me to go to.
The Saint-Jacques Tower
His house
We followed Rue Nicolas Flamel for a while and weaved our way along the streets of the 4th arrondissement. We made a few stops in specific churches as well.
A jewelry store with a statue of the Queen, Thought it was funny:)
Paroisse Saint-Merry
Paroisse Saint-Merry
We passed by the Pompidou Centre on our walk. We didn't go inside, but we walked around the crazy fountain that is outside of it. The Pompidou Centre is a very strange building to see in Paris. It looks like it was turned inside out! The fountain has all of these weird and scary sculptures in it and some are straying water. I was able to take a few pictures...
A cool looking mural of Salvador Dali. I liked the juxtaposition of it against the old church.
As we continued to walk around the 4th arrondissement, we walked through beautiful streets and allies.
A famous restaurant. One guess what their specialty is...
Our final stop was at the Saint-Eustache Church. It was very beautiful. The shape was really interesting as well. It wasn't very big, but was very round. I didn't think it was a church from the outside because of its shape and size. The church also had large windows all around it. This allowed for the sunlight to stream in. This was definitely one of my favorite churches we went into.
I really enjoyed this walk because we were able to just walk around and see the lesser known streets of Paris. Other walks we went on, we were constantly stopping to look at some plaque or some building. While that can be interesting and enjoyable at times, it was nice to have a more relaxed walk for a change.
This Week's Soundtrack
Unfortunately, I don't have much music that suits leisurely walks and churches, but I do have some that would work for a Harry Potter theme.
All of these songs are from the tribute band Harry and the Potters (lame, I know):
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