Pickup from our hotel was at 3:40 to arrive at Malta international airport around 3:50. We checked our bags, went through security and then as it seems to be typical in small airports, we sat in a crowded common area to wait for the gate assignment slated to be posted at 5:20.
As I sat there my thoughts were on the incredible stone walls and stone structures we had seen all over Sicily and Malta. So much was done with ingenuity thousands of years before any equipment common to our present time was developed. Walls were built with stones fitting together without use of cement or any filler. In areas where there are colossal structures but no evidence of any written records, we can only imagine what might have been the purpose of these places. Sadly, previous visitors have defaced some stones with graffiti but I recall that even in the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan museum of Art the docent tour described ancient graffiti on the temple walls. The need to say”I was here” before photos were possible has been a long tradition of bad behavior.
Our flight to Paris was as expected. We took buses out to the plane waiting on the tarmac. Luckily we had checked our luggage so the stairs to the plane were ok. It was very windy as we stood waiting to enter the plane. Once onboard, nearly everyone went to sleep. Luckily there was an empty seat in my row so the woman sitting next to me moved to the window giving us both a little space.
We landed in Paris knowing that snow and frigid weather were forecast. We had reservations at the airport hotel. We were able to get to our room, drop the baggage, and plan our escape to Paris. We had planned to take the RER train into town. But we found out that the train was out of service for the weekend. So we had our hotel get us a taxi to our destination, NOTRE DAME!!!
One of our fellow travelers in Sicily told us that we didn’t need a reservation because the line goes quickly. Probably in reasonable weather, that would have been ok but in freezing rain, it was not fun to snake around lines for 45 minutes being pelted by wind and rain. Mercifully, there was a heater right as we entered the church.
Once inside, it was incredible. I had seen the outside last year, and photos of the restoration are everywhere. The huge number of people inside the church did not seem overwhelming. And the entire interior is clean and glistening. It seemed odd to find it so perfectly done and yet the beauty of every detail is overwhelming. It looks as if the church was finished yesterday.
We sat briefly in a row of chairs facing the altar and looked at the beautiful chandeliers that now light the church so that it is possible to see every detail. It is also possible to pay a few Euros to get a commemorative coin from a machine. The shop selling holy items was doing a brisk business.
We left to go to Ile St Louis where we planned to stop for buckwheat crepes. My favorite spot in the Maraid for those crepes was closed this weekend but it’s easy to find them everywhere. It was nice to be warm and inside.
Our next stop was the Picasso museum. We had several hours to spend before our dinner reservation. The Picasso museum always has interesting shows along with a large collection of Picasso’s work which were given to the state probably to pay taxes. The place is huge.
We left with time for a stop in a nearby hotel for a glass of wine before dinner. The restaurant I had chosen is a favorite for excellent food including great steak! We squeezed into Le Petit Celestin and had a great meal which had to end with their incredible lemon pie.
We got back to the airport easily. Uber is a good choice in Paris. One more night…then home.
The Adventures of Anne 
When we were in Malta twenty or so years ago, I was shocked by the condition of the Hertz car I had rented: it was covered with dings and dents and scratches … looked like it had been run through a garbage disposal. Once out on the road, I figured out why: the combination of having to shift gears with my left hand (which I’d never done) and the proximity of the irregularly bouldered stone walls lining the very narrow roads made driving a tremendously risky operation in terms of the car’s paint job. I don’t remember adding to the damage but returning the car to the airport parking lot, I realized all of them were severely banged up.
LikeLike