Yesterday morning we started out at Notre Dame cathedral, spending a bit of time admiring this beautiful old church. Then we hopped on over to Saint Chapelle which I had not been to before. Holy cow! I thought Notre Dame was impressive but Saint Chapelle blew me away. It has 1,000 stained glass window pictures and it's such a small and intimate space, it truly is just amazing.
After getting our time in at the churches we went to the overwhelming Louvre. It was an absolute madhouse! Sometimes I forget exactly how popular Paris is even in the dead of winter. We wandered around the Denon gallery, and tried to visit the Mona Lisa (see the picture below and you'll understand why I use the word "try"). We also saw the Raft of the Medusa which might have been my favorite piece in that gallery, despite its dark theme. Then we ran over to the department store BHV and had a surprisingly swanky and pricey lunch at the cafeteria which boasted views from its fifth story cafe. Then after a bit of shopping,photography and a run back home, at 8pm we hopped over to the Musee D'Orsay to visit my old friends, Monet and Van Gogh. Simply incredible. We were totally wiped out after that, but for some reason I couldn't fall asleep until 1:30 am, go figure.
Today was also epic, as we began our day hanging out with the gargoyles of Notre Dame after a 400 step climb to the tower. Amazing, awesome views! Then we headed over to the Ile de Saint-Louis, the small residential island just east of the Ile de cite where Notre Dame resides. I think it is one of our favorite places in Paris, with its quiet, less touristy streets and lots of locals. We found an incredible boulangerie and a great little spot to picnic. The sun came out today!! It was such a treat. After a bit of wandering we went over to the Musee Orangerie where we saw Monet's water lilies and an amazing Frida Kahlon and Diego Rivera exhibit. Talk about some seriously talented (and crazily in love) artists. In another hour or so we're heading back to the Louvre to look at another wing. (There's just too much to look at in one go.)
Now the fun stuff... Pictures! First, I wanted to show you guys the steps to our apartment. Our building was built about 500 years ago and luckily for us, it's gone under some renovations, but the stairs are still a bit interesting...
Yes, there are seven flights of stairs!
Beautiful Notre Dame.
The Joan of Arc statue inside the church.
A beautiful park at the tip of the Ile de cite where Notre Dame resides. My absolute favorite spot in the city.
The well known Shakespeare & Co store just on the banks across from Notre Dame.
A shot of one of he quirky walls inside the shop.
A beautiful shot of one portion of Saint Chapelle.
Thomas at the Louvre, trying to get close to the Mona Lisa. It was crazy!
One of many "Love Locks" bridges that have sprung up in Paris. This one is entirely full of locks!
(For those of you who don't know, it's become a thing to do, to wrote your initials and date on a lock and place it on a bridge in Paris. Thomas and I decided not to do this, as it is technically sort of defacing the bridge.)
A shot of the bridge near Notre Dame.
One of the many gargoyles atop Notre Dame Tower.
Off to the Louvre now!
Cheers,
Cathy
The fact that you even mentioned shopping makes me want to go to Paris with you.
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