Paris with my Amour

Our day began with an early visit to the Lauvre.

 

 

. . .  notice that loooonnng line behind us?  Well, thanks to the wonderful Paris Museum Pass, we were able to skip the entire line and walk right in.  Winning.

 

 

 

This may sound crazy to some, but knowing it was such a HUGE museum we made a "must-see" list and set off to check each off the list.

 

...with our good friend Rick leading the way!

 

 

First stop, Winged Victory.

 

 

Pushing through the crowds (there may have been some elbows thrown), we made our way to the Egyptian Artifacts.

 

 

Then, on to the postage stamp Mona Lisa. And yes, I did maneuver my way ALL the way to the front of the line to get up close and personal.

 

 

 

Final stop, Venus de Milo. This ancient Greek statue is believed to have been created sometime between 130 and 100 B.C., it is believed to depict the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

    

 

Believe it or not, it was time to leave.  We took a stroll over to Sainte Chapelle, also known as the Holy Chapel.  Known to me now as the church in Paris was the most beautiful stained glass windows.

 

 

 

 

The pictures don't do it justice.  We spent quite a while just staring up at the beautiful glass. The chapel is tiny, like seriously so small, but every wall is covered, floor to ceiling with these beautiful windows.

 

Just outside the chapel was the Palace of Justice.

 

 

 

 

Heading towards our next stop we passed a long row of street artists. I feel in love with more than one painting, but decided on just one for my travel wall.  Which, I might say is coming along quite nicely!  :)

 

After shopping, I needed a snack.  When in Paris . . .  Crepes!

 

 

 

along the walk . . .

 

 

 

With a full belly, we made our way a few blocks down to the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral. The line was long, but worth the wait since it wasn't included in our Paris Pass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The line was even longer to climb the bell tower, but this was something I had been looking forward to the entire trip.  Not necessarily the climb itself, but seeing the bells of Notre-Dame and the gargoyles and something I had to do.  Sadly, we didn't run into Quasimodo or Esmeralda, but the views were still worth the wait and the climb.

 

   

 

 

A few blocks away we found the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore.

  

Purchased a book for my classroom and got a stamp!

More Parisian snacks!

 

Our evening was spent enjoying a night boat cruise on the Seine River.  

 

 

 

The last part of our trip included a whirlwind trip to the Palace of Versailles. After getting on the wrong train, walking the wrong direction and arriving at the wrong location, we finally made it to Versilles . . .  and that, is the shortened, no tear version.  Last thing I'll say, don't bother going to Versailles on a Monday.  That's all.  You piece it together.

 

 

After some lunch and ice cream, we concluded our disappointing tour of Versailles and headed back to the train station . . .  now that we knew where it was. We boarded our ICE train and headed home.