Jeanne, South Carolina...nice win yesterday!! I used to go to Notred Dame / USC games every other year when ND was out here playing. The tailgating is a blast and I love the games but it became so much work once it was time to get to your seat. Of course, major changes after 9-11. The last time I went to a ND/USC game (after 9-11), after tailgating for several hours, we headed in to the stadium an hour and a half hour prior to kickoff and did not get to our seats until halftime. I am very BIG on security but decided tiz better to watch on TV...LOL! Jayeanne, your Crimsin Tide.....are you OK after that devastating loss yesterday? Great game...but that final second......oh my!!! And my beloved Fighting Irish.....they lost, of course, to Stanford, which I expected would happen. However, Stanford did not blow them away. Final 27-20. Turnovers, turnovers, get ya everytime!! Jeanne, thanks again for Football In The Garden...FUN! The FOTESSERS, great group! Happy Sunday!! Annie

sherwoodva, having lived in that environment for several years, let me offer a slightly different spin on what you've said. It's true that when entering a shop, unless it's uncomfortably crowded, one will hear (if a couple) Bonjour Monsieur-Dame. Hello sir and madam. In a restaurant, it's usually a simple Bonjour. It's not that that the speaker wants to be friendly or polite, because like anything else they sometimes couldn't give two sh*ts about you, but it's that the FAILURE to do so would be viewed as rude and arrogant and lacking in respect for a customer the business appreciates having. Depending on where (country) and when, the cordiality may be followed by terrific or indifferent attitudes and service, but at least the experience begins with a perfunctory cordiality. In other languages, it's more often just their version of hello without the honorific. In return, the entering customer should always say Bonjour or its equivalent if in other countries. If unsure, say Hello.

Today, the Minister of Culture announced that 15 large paintings that were in the side chapels were not damaged at all and have been packed and moved to The Louvre. The paintings of Notre-Dame in safety at the Louvre The Cathedral is far from destroyed but will require extensive rebuilding and restoration. The roof actually did what it was supposed to do, protect the vault of the Cathedral from damage. The 'ceiling' that is seen inside is the vault, and only parts of it collapsed. As burning wood fell into the Cathedral, the firemen put the fires out. In some photos of the damage, you can see candles on either side of the High Altar still intact. The north side of the Cathedral where one of the Rose windows is, is considered to be most at risk of collapsing. A statue was sawed off from above the Rose window on that side and removed by crane (I saw the entire operation on a live stream) and the smaller, destroyed window above it was reinforced. On a happy note, the bees that lived on the roof survived. Scroll down in the article to see the bee swarm on a blackened Gargoyle. The Bees of Notre Dame Since I began traveling solo to Paris in 2015, Notre Dame has been the centerpiece of my visits. During the 9 visits I've made, I've been incredibly fortunate to rent an apartment with a direct view of the Cathedral. I decided on my March trip that it was time to move to another area, I'll miss hearing the bells and seeing beautiful ND every day but I'm glad I could leave with happy memories. From my March visit.

My husband called the house immediately when he heard that Our Lady of Paris was on fire. And he *never* calls the house (he normally just emails me). I couldn't bring myself to watch *any* news videos of the fire. I cried upon learning that the Crown of Thorns was housed there, as well as a Nail and a piece of the Cross. The building and art being in grave danger was terribly sad, but I totally lost it when I learned of the relics. (The three relics I just mentioned are now believed to be safe.) I am a devout Catholic. Our Lady of Paris -- my husband visited her twice, not 2 months ago -- meant more to me than it does to some others. If she was a secular building, more/different folks would care more, is my guess. Nothing necessarily wrong with that... After all, I would not be as emotionally invested if something happened to an important mosque or Buddhist temple or something, you know? For some of us, yes, Our Lady of Paris Cathedral is something super special, and her losses sustained in the fire are heartbreaking. The absolute BEST news, though, is (to my knowledge) no human lives were lost. PRAISE BE TO GOD!