Paris - Days One to Three

Day One: Roommate did a really good job of buying tickets and selecting seats so we had a row by the window to ourselves on the way over. It was really nice to be traveling "with" someone rather than just traveling to meet someone.

We arrived in Paris early in the morning, made our way to our hotel, dropped off our bags since it was too early to check in and then headed out. We enjoyed some espresso and a croissant sitting at the bottom of the hill near Sacre Coeur, ate a picnic lunch under the Eiffel Tower, walked the Champs Elysees, drank more espresso, checked out the Place de la Concorde, and then called it a day. We headed to bed early since we had had only 4 hours sleep on the plane the night before.


Sacre Coeur - very near our hotel. We actually requested a room with a view but either we were too late or the guy in reception didn't understand.


Eiffel Tower.


Arc d'Triomphe


Day Two: We headed out early to see Saint Chapelle which although I have been to Paris several times had never seen. Here's a tip - don't leave this off your list. It is a must see and the Roommate's favorite place we saw the entire trip. (Mine too after coffee and French food.) Then it was across the way to Notre Dame where we waited in line to get in the church and then a 2 hour wait to go up to see the gargoyles. Both were worth the wait but since I have never been to Paris during the high season I was a little annoyed by the lines everywhere we went. If you don't want lines visit Paris in the winter. If you want nice weather and flowers then be prepared to stand in line. After Notre Dame we wandered around the Latin Quarter and visited the Musee de Moyenne Age where we saw the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. Since we had a Paris Museum Pass we did a quick stop at the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and Victory before we headed back to the hotel and fell into bed. The whole six days were non-stop and filled with little else other than art museums and espresso at sidewalk cafes.


Saint Chapelle - Downstairs


And upstairs. The stained glass was amazing.


The floor of the chapel.




Me and the roommate


The view from Notre Dame


The Lady and the Unicorn - Touch. I had tried to get to this museum when I'd been in Paris before and never made it so I was super happy I finally got to see these. They really are stunning although it's hard to take good pictures. They have to keep the light level very low to preserve the color.


The Roommate was there for the art - I was there for the food.


A Canadian bookshop in the Latin Quarter with more books than shelf space.


Victory

Day Three: We hit the Musee Rodin (where we saw the famous statue The Thinker) and the Musee d'Orsay. The weather was cold and rainy so it was a great day for being inside. We had scheduled a bike tour that evening but we weren't attired for the rain and the cold so they took pity on us and let us reschedule to later in the week.


I wonder what he's contemplating.



Next Up: The Louvre, l'Orangerie, Musee Pompideu, Giverny, and Chartres