Thursday 9 August 2007

48 Hours in Paris


Just back from a short stay in Paris with Fr Whinder. As you can see, the weather had its moments and the Eiffel Tower was obscured by mist for most of yesterday. Before catching the Eurostar back to Waterloo, we visited the Invalides, which includes a very good military museum. Of course, we (half-heartedly) paid our respects to the 'shrine' of the Emperor Napoleon - and prayed for the repose of his soul:


In the museum we admired this First World War Mass kit, which would have been used in the trenches:
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On Tuesday we made the pilgrimage to Versailles (for the first time since Coppola's stunning film, Marie-Antoinette). Unfortunately, the fountains were not working that day, along with the accompanying baroque music (a different selection is chosen each year and sold as a CD in the shops). But the gardens were as magnificent as ever:


Fr Whinder was full of the baroque spirit as we walked around the quaint little town, and even approached a friendly looking local to ask for directions:

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You look super cool Fr..just like those handsome Italian Priests!What make were your sunglasses? Versace? lol

11:47 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did you get the chance to pop in to Notre Dame de Paris to offer up a prayer for the happy repose of the soul of Cardinal Lustiger?

10:08 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You seem to take an awful lot of time off, one way or another.

2:34 pm  
Blogger Fr Nicholas said...

Gretal, thanks for your comment. I can see how that impression might be created. English priests are entitled to take 3-4 weeks off in the summer, plus some time off after Christmas and Easter. Due to the cheap cost of travel (at least in the UK) and the lack of young children, this means priests can give the impresion of globetrotting.

Many take a whole month off in the summer, but this year my holidays are 'bitty'. So far, I've had a week in Poland and two nights in Paris, which is by no means excessive!

I've also had to travel quite a bit this year for 'businnes reasons' - conferences, a school trip, a research trip to Italy and a preached retreat.

3:08 pm  

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