Monday was our day in Paris. The place we were staying was the monastery of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers which is very close to the Arc of Triumph and the Champ Eleyeese which is the ritzy shopping strip of Paris. We wandered down this street and on into one of the major parks (I realise this is terrible that I am not giving any names but naturally they are all in French and I can’t recall what they are called, sorry).
We saw the standard French sites such as the Eiffel Tower but also beautiful Catholic places such as the Notre Dame Cathedral and the chapel that was built by King Louis to hold the relics of the Passion, pieces of the cross Christ was crucified on. The relics were no longer there but the main attraction now is the architecture which is really stunning. It was build at a time when they had just discovered how to make use of more glass in buildings by transferring the structural support to outside pillars and this chapel is absolutely amazing as it is almost all stained glass. It was overcast the day we were there but when the sun is shining through it must be absolutely amazing!
Getting from London to Rome that evening was an ordeal. We flew so as not to waste time but I think now that when it comes to short flights it really is easier to drive…there are no metal detectors and no flight delays! We had to catch two planes, London to Zurich and one hour later, Zurich to Rome (I can now say I have been to Switzerland). Every airport seems to have its own regulations regarding security, some we have to take the laptop out and some we don’t, we had never had to take shoes off but at London we did. I mean what is the point of taking them off before the machine has gone off? They have everyone undressing when very possibly many of them would have been able to go through. I wonder if they just like the power of being able to reduce everyone to barefooted and beltless individuals; for the time at security, no matter who you might be, you are at their mercy! I had to take my shoes and belt off at London and then again at Zurich but at Zurich he still was not happy so took me behind the curtain and frisked me for any weapons I may have been concealing. And the more I told him we were late (our flight from London was an hour late in leaving) the slower he went! I didn’t even have time to dress after that, so with shoes and belt and jacket in hand I ran all the way to the boarding gate and onto the plane!
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