The following day I had band practice. We practiced from 2:30 till 8pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, their usual practice days. I remember the songs being good, but finding my niche within them was taking some time. It's hard coming in and writing within certain perimeters. We had some fun funky jams and melodic metal improves throughout the day - I remember that much. I enjoyed the smoke breaks quite a bit not because I liked to smoke (although that was enjoyable from time to time) but because we were all hanging out together. Plus the sunshine was nice. What can I say, I'm a Californian.
After band practice Lotfi and Digo opted for us to walk home so I could see the city a bit by foot. It's funny how much more you see when you walk anywhere - and I assure you that in Paris it was a sensory overload - it was worth every step. The three of us left the studio and caught the last hour of daylight as we headed west down the avenue. I saw patches of flies hovering together silhouetted in the fading sun ahead of me (unusual I thought) as we chatted a bit about my life back home and my musical past. I loved it. We walked through the commercial area through all the department stores, turning our heads at the frequent Parisian woman passing by. How could we not? After passing a very famous museum that I thought was pretty modern/ugly we started to approach Notre-Dame. I really had no idea what was about to hit me - I'll enforce that right now - holy shit. But until I saw it I'll continue with the storytelling process...
Over the tops of the buildings you could begin to see a needle-like tower; something almost demonic-looking, dark colored and obviously massive and far aboveground - even from our vantage point. This was part of the backside tower and by far the least spectacular thing I was about to see. Digo knew well what was about to happen to me; I remember the look in his eye.
It's hard to describe how I felt when I first saw the face of Notre-Dame. Some feelings in life you experience only once in a lifetime and this may very well have been one of them. It was far beyond a movie or a dream or anything to date. I felt dwarfed by time, by the history of those who lived and died before me and humbled by the awesome power of mans creation, of his desire and love for spirituality. Even the guys felt it - I knew. We sat there outside for some time and watched the sunset glow upon the surface.
Then I went through the 15' wooden doors and into the worship hall. If God lives then he certainly lives in Notre-Dame. I'm not a spiritual person, but I understood why and how and why again; it's all so simple sometimes. I sat there for a little while in amazement. I felt close to everything I cared about, somehow so near and far at the same time. That's about as well as I can say it.
After standing on the bridge over the Seine we left Notre-Dame and headed south through the Latin Quarter where I saw the Pantheon. Wow. The amount of history in Paris never ceases to amaze me. I still can't get over that fact looking back on it. I didn't have my camera so I took a few pictures with my phone (thus marking the day I would always carry my camera.) In view of the Pantheon was St. Etienne du Mont standing in the background. I really should've gotten a closer look, but there was so much to take in at that moment. We headed through the tourist part of the Latin Quarter, a part that structurally looked really cool and would've been if it weren't for the "I love Paris" t-shirt stands everywhere. There were lots of narrow back-alleys and lanterns that I bet cast really nice lighting if we had been there a bit later. The sun had set and everything was starting to glow in the twilight.
As we started to walk uphill and out of the Latin Quarter we passed the church of Val-de-Grace - an old military hospital and one of my favorite looking buildings. Like all things on my trip I wanted to stay a bit longer, but we had to keep heading home. Shortly after the hospital we passed a cool looking jazz bar - small, cramped with a rocking band - just my style. I wish I'd gotten a picture. Past that there was a sandwich shop where I was to order the best Panini of my entire life. I ordered it all in French and the clerk was impressed - that's two for two. As we ate them walking home I remember the full moon and a feeling of friendship. What a bitchin' sandwich.
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