Oh well, if we're allowed.....
One thing about Paris is the small format, almost 'pop up', concerts, recitals, art displays, little temporary museums. You for instance can go into any Church after Mass on Sunday, even Notre Dame, and hear an organ recital. One day we saw a poster for a concert that would occur in Sainte Chapele that night. Its a little church which lies within the Justice Complex, dates from the 12th century, it was the royalty's private church. Sainte Chapele has "the best stained glass" in France. Each window stories a complete book of the Bible. Its very famous as one of the most spectacular churches, small too, in all France. We found a booth in the back of a cafe where tickets were being sold, and the lady convinced my wife with a wink to spend another 3euros (on maybe a 12euro ticket) for "good seats". We arrived, entering through full Court security even after hours, and went to the Chapele. At the front of the little Chapele a rope was lifted and we, stunned, were taken to seats 1A and 1B. We sat, almost in touching distance the lead violin of a septuplet of strings + harpsichord and listened to a recital in full of the Four Seasons, and other Vivaldi pieces. The late evening sun streamed through the glass. My wife started blubbering at the 5min mark and didnt stop for 2 hours.
Then in Nov 2016, we lucked onto an after hours tour of the towers and bells of Notre Dame. (if youre going, google this) We arrived at the allotted time. Small group only allowed, 12 people. Us and a family/friends group, most of whom were not in such good shape. We know the climb into the towers, I had a plan. We got a the head of the line, behind the guide. The guard opened the door, a little way up, the tour guide was already struggling. We asked if we could go on ahead. We bolted. The result was, we got to the top of Notre Dame on a perfect Paris evening and had nearly fifteen minutes up there all alone. Also, it was the Eve of the Day of the Dead. We were on the gantry of the South Belfry, where the two giant bells (Marie and Emmanuel) are housed, while the bells arrayed in the North Tower peeled out for the Day of the Dead. Truly amazing.
These are two of my favourite Paris moments. What a city.
