So I finally went up Notre-Dame today. I’ve seen it probably a hundred times, at all hours of the day and night, but never have I actually gone inside. Well, this morning we woke up early (for us! Though not by everyone else’s standards, apparently, because the line was epic) and went to have the classic Notre-Dame experience of climbing the hundreds of steps to the top of the bell tower to enjoy the views of Paris.

Well, it was spectacular. The weather has been kind of dreadful all week – rain and wind, clouds all the time – but during the time we spent at the cathedral it was bright and sunny. From the tower, we could see everything… all of Paris; all the sights that have become important to us over the course of the past quarter. I think Notre-Dame probably is the best view in the city. It was designed to be the heart of Paris, and still is, even after all these years and tourist visits, so it gives a central perspective on everything. And it’s just the right height… every normal building in Paris is about eight stories high, and Notre-Dame is just a touch higher, so you can peer out over the roofs, and all the monuments which stand out – the Eiffel Tour, the Centre Pompidou, the Dome Church, the Pantheon, etc. – are in perfect perspective. It’s a great vantage point to look out over the city.

I’m so glad I did it now, instead of at the beginning. It’s funny, because Notre-Dame was the first thing I went to my first full day in Paris, just to see it, to take pictures of the outside, to look at it from the plaza, from the bridges, from the banks of the Seine. But now I was able to appreciate not only the way it looks but the view it offers. From horizon to horizon, we could pick out dozens of places which have some memory attached to them. Some, like the Jardin Luxembourg, were the places we’ve gone almost every day. Others were the places we’ve been to once. But the point is that we weren’t just seeing buildings. We were looking out over the life we’ve led these past few months, over the paths and journeys we’ve taken, over the Parisian tableau upon which we’ve lived our days.

It’s over, folks. Yes, I’m here for one more day; yes, I’m still having fun, and I’m going to enjoy tomorrow, I can promise you that! But it really is over. My time in Paris has passed, and this city will never be the same to me again. It’s a little bit heartbreaking.

I still have more to tell you: adventures from this week, of course, and thoughts on this wonderful city that has interwoven itself through our lives, more thoughts than you could probably ever find interesting, but which nevertheless you will find sometime soon on this blog! But the next time you hear from me, faithful reader, I will not be writing from Paris. It really is over. I hate to say it, and I’m not ready, but that doesn’t matter. It’s over.

Au revoir, dear people who read this. I look forward to seeing you soon. And au revoir, Paris. You will be missed.