PARIS, Oct 3 - Paris was a day of respite before the two hardest stages on our European pilgrimage.  Since the city did not figure prominently in Constantine's lifetime, I wasn't planning any ceremonies there.  Lutetia, the Roman name for Paris, was not even a provincial capital back then.  The city rose to prominence much later, well after the direct Roman rule ended.  The Roman influence, however, was indelible.  It is still felt everywhere you go in Paris, not the least of it in the French language.

On Monday morning, we took an early morning "chunnel" train from London to the French capital (see the map - right).

In three hours door-to-door from our London hotel, the Eurostar disgorged us at the Gare du Nord station in Paris (far right).  Our hotel was near Gare de l'Est, a short walk from the northern rail line.  Except that with our four bags, and the sidewalk construction around Gare de l'Est, getting there was a bit of an ordeal.  Luckily, sunny and warm weather continued.  Paris in October looked and felt like the way I remember it at the height of summer.

Once we did, the view from our hotel of the grand old station was beautiful (see above panorama shot which is comprised of four frames). The only thing missing was the horse-drawn carriages dropping of the passengers at the station.

After settling in, we took a taxi and headed into the city, starting with Galeries Lafayette, a famous department store near the Opera (two left shots are file photos).  Having satisfied her shopping appetite first, Elizabeth was ready to see the rest of Paris. It was her first visit to the French capital. You can trace her everywhere in the photo album below by the red shopping bag of Galeries Lafayette that she carted all over the city. :-)  You can see it, for example, in front of Notre Dame in the far right shot (which is a composite of two frames).

Gare de l'Est
View from our hotel room	At Gare du Nord	Snacking on French pastry		Place Vendome
Lunch at Tuileries	At the Louvre	View of Tuileries	Ille de la Cite with Notre Dame in background
Approaching Notre Dame	At Notre Dame
				Galeries Lafayette shopping bag brightens up even Notre Dame :-)
	I did a brief ceremony here for all seven ray souls		Touring Paris by cab
	Arc de Triomphe	Champs Elysee
	At a Champs Elysee bistro

In the evening, we had a quiet dinner near our hotel and went to bed early.  I had butterflies in my tummy.  The way one feels before a big game or a concert.  I expected the next two days to be the most difficult - logistically, physically and emotionally.  There was much karma to be cleared both in Trier (Germany) and in Pula (Croatia).

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

HAIKU, Maui, Sep 27, 2011 - To understand the full context of this extraordinary journey, a new reader needs to check out and contemplate the following revelations that came to be about Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity and help codify it (see Nicene Creed) into a religion that we still know it today, 1700 years later.  The first revelation occurred in late June of this year, at the time of the 40th anniversary of my first wife's death (Betty, who I later intuited was also my first wife Minervina in the Constantine lifetime).

Through a combination of my own intuitions, and that of my Masters-Teachers and other important figures in Constantine's lifetime who are incarnated today, I pieced together this fascinating mosaic of stories (published at my arts and spirituality web site - www.altzar.org ):

• Constantine and I (June 28)

• Constantine: First Christian to Rule with Sword (July 31)

• Constantine: Trail of Tears (Aug 9)

• Constantine Closure: Trail of Joy to Follow Trail of Tears (Aug 12)