So much fun reliving this day again. Beware: too many pictures.
We slept until 7:40, got ready, ate bagels and strawberry cream cheese, and headed to Napoleon’s Tomb… just a five minute walk from our apartment. The inside of the building was quite impressive. “The emperor lies majestically dead under a grand dome glittering with 26 pounds of gold. There was no expense spared for the tomb and Napoleon Bonaparte's body lies within six separate coffins. They are made of iron, mahogany, two of lead, ebony, and the outer one is red porphyry. The tomb sits on a green-granite pedestal surrounded by 12 pillars of victory.”
We walked around inside and then headed outside to the courtyard and into the chapel. We even quickly toured the Army Museum… long enough to realize it was a great museum and we didn’t have time to really do it justice… and quick enough that poor Chris was in torture that we had to leave.
I loved seeing this Chapel with it’s white walls and ceilings and beautiful old hanging flags.
Next stop… the Rodin Museum. The line was SO long outside but because of our 2 day museum pass – we were able to walk right in. So nice. “The Rodin Museum is filled with passionate works by the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo… Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Rodin lived and worked in this mansion (now the museum) renting rooms alongside other painters, poets and dancers.” The museum sits in the middle of a flowering garden filled with copies of Rodin’s work. Rodin’s most famous sculpture is The Thinker… below in the middle of the gardens. (Napoleon’s Tomb dome in the background)
The Thinker… it’s small, isn’t it?
When I showed this picture to Emily she immediately said, “Well, he’s taking a shower. He’s naked, one arm is holding the spray thing and the other is washing his hair.” Well, of course. Isn’t it obvious?
When Chris passed this sculpture he thought that they were ready to stick their hands in to do our family motto… “No Empty Chairs.”
The Rodin Mansion, the gardens and a peek of the top of the Eiffel Tower…
After the Rodin Museum we hopped on the metro and came out in the middle of Ile de la Cite… the historic core of Paris. We wandered until we found something to eat (a crepe stand which was not great) and then headed over to the…
Notre Dame… a 700 year old cathedral dedicated to “our lady”. 
“Mary is center stage – cradling Jesus, surrounded by the halo of the rose window. Adam is on the left and Eve is on the right. Below Mary and above the arches is a row of 28 statues know as the Kings of Judah.”
Inside the Notre Dame…
Below, St. Denis without a head… “Back when there was a Roman temple on this spot, Christianity began making converts. The fourth-century bishop of Roman Paris, St. Denis was beheaded. Legend says he then got up, tucked his head under his arm, and headed north until he found just the right place to meet his maker: Montmartre.” I love how every sculpture has a story to tell.
On the bridge behind the Notre Dame Cathedral is where travelers lock their love and throw the key into the river. Only here is seems they ‘tie their love as well’. Ribbons, rubber bands, plastic bags, pieces of string and all kinds of things are tied on as well. I wonder how often it is ‘cleaned off’?
We headed towards the pedestrian bridge to the neighboring island… Ile St. Louis. The main street, Rue St. Louis en l’Ile is lined with interesting shops, famous sorbet shops, boutiques, flower shops and colorful Parisian architecture.
Chris and I spent some time in the candy shop trying free samples and buying suckers for the kids. We also checked out a quaint children’s toy store and then got gelato. Definitely one of my favorite Parisian streets.
Saint Chapelle “This triumph of Gothic church architecture is a cathedral of glass like no other. It was speedily built between 1242 and 1248 for Louis IX to house the supposed Crown of Thorns. It’s architectural harmony is due to the fact that it as completed under the direction of one architect in only six years – unheard of in Goth times.” (Notre-Dame took more than 200 years to build and was unfinished when this one went up only blocks away.)
It really was like no cathedral I’ve seen before. “In the Bible, it’s clear: Light is divine. light shining through stained glass was a symbol of God’s grace shining down to earth. Gothic architects used their new technology to turn dark stone buildings into lanterns of light. The glory of Gothic shines brighter here than in any other church. There are 15 separate panels of stained glass with more than 1,100 different scenes, mostly from the Bible.” You can’t really see them all individually in the picture, but it’s quite amazing. We picked out (with Rick Steves help) scenes of stories from the Bible.
Le Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart Cathedral)… A five domed, Roman-Byzantine basilica on Paris’ highest hilltop. Chris and I absolutely loved coming to the Sacre-Coeur and Montmartre on our first trip to Paris, and we didn’t do it with the kids on our second trip, so we were excited to come back. We climbed the stairs… raced actually all the while avoiding some young men interested in tying bracelets onto our wrists. At the top we waited in line to climb the dome behind a huge group of ‘old folks’. Luckily they toured the crypt and we didn’t have to wait for them up the stairs to the dome. The walk up is cool…. through spiral stair towers, along roof lines, over ridges and up ‘300 marches’ to the base of the dome.
Montmartre is the name of the area on top of the hill by the Sacre Coeur. It’s filled with picturesque streets, quaint restaurants, painters. We walked around enjoying the streets and picking out our bakery and gelato shop for after dinner.
Sarah’s friend suggested a good restaurant just outside the touristy part of Montmartre called Un Zebre a Montmartre (38 rue Lepic). It was fantastic. We ordered braised beef (lyon style) with onion sauce – amazing potato casserole and green beans. And a tomato mozzarella salad on the side. It was really our only sit down meal in Paris and it was fabulous.
Sorry about all the kissing, but my goodness, we’re in Paris!
After these pictures we raced, jumped and bounced down the stairs… (They are standing at the top of the stairs) and then counted all the guys who tried putting bracelets on our wrists as we left the area.
The Metro Story…
Here we are checking out the metro map and figuring out which metro to take home. Notice that Chris still has his metro ticket in his hand. Well, right after this picture Chris discarded his metro ticket in the trash. We were already through the ticket stalls and since we had purchased a pack of 10 metro tickets to save money… he figured he’d throw his ‘used’ one away to not get confused with his ‘unused’ ones.
Well, if we would have read Rick Steves METRO section a little closer we would have been more careful about keeping our tickets until we exited the metro tunnels. Walking through the tunnels after we switched trains, everyone was being checked by the Metro Police. Chris, Dan and Sarah had thrown their tickets away… and they were in big trouble. The Metro police take their job very seriously and were pretty mean… they wouldn’t even let Sarah walk over to Dan – who was being interrogated by a different Metro guy. They tried explaining their case but it was no use. 25 Euro fine for each of them… plus a threat that if they argued anymore they’d call the real police. I’ve never seen Sarah so ticked. It was pretty funny. I mean, it wasn’t right when it happened, but by the end of the night, it totally was.
One more peek at the Place de la Concorde, the Luxor Obelisk and the Eiffel Tower before heading back to the apartment to eat candy and play Dominion. What a really great day! Oh, and total miles walked today: 13.25
