After visiting the Arc de Triomphe, we walked all the way back to our apartment while we looked for a restaurant to eat our dinner in...We were both tired, and the decision seemed very difficult that night. In the end, we ate at what we though was a little Italian restaurant...when we actually got inside, we found out it was packed like sardines! Plus, they all smoked! Quelle experience! Oh well....


The next day we got up and took the metro into the heart of Paris. The place is amazing!


Our first site to visit was a church we saw while we were trying to get our bearings. It's called l'Eglise St. Gervais et St. Protais, and it's the home of the Monastic and Lay Communities of Jerusalem. Their vocation and the basis of their life is summed up in Jesus' prayer: "Father, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15)


The church itself is very interesting. Here's what Wikipedia says:

This church is one of oldest of Paris. Its existence is mentioned at this place starting from 4th century. Formerly seat of the powerful brotherhood of the wine merchants, it took its present appearance starting from 16th century. Its frontage would be completed much later, about 1620, testifying to a perfect control of traditional esthetics.

The square located at the foot of the staircases of the church was for a long time called "Crossroads of the Elm": since the Middle Ages a centuries-old elm, grew at its centre. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood would exchange money there. Several pictures of this elm still remain, in the stalls of the Church and on some nearby buildings.

The side of the church is skirted by François Miron Street, where two of the oldest medieval houses of Paris remain, at numbers 11 and 13. They date most likely from 14th century. One can see their structure of exposed wood, which was prohibited at the time due to the risk of fire.

On March 29, 1918, a German shell fell on the roof of the Church, killing a hundred people.