Adieu, Paris!

On our third day in Paris, we woke up early in order to see the Louvre Museum, one of the largest and most visited museums in the world. 

{Attempting to “touch” the top of the pyramid at the Louvre}

{View from inside the pyramid}

Our mission upon entering the museum was to go directly to the Mona Lisa, the Louvre’s most popular attraction.  We figured that since the museum had just opened, it would be best to go right away rather than wait and risk it getting crowded.  While there were definitely people surrounding the picture, it was not nearly as crowded as it could have been!

 

{In front of the Mona Lisa}

{Crowd in front of the Mona Lisa}

After seeing the Mona Lisa, we decided to focus on the areas of the museum that most interested us and also aimed to see as many of the major works as possible.  We ended up spending around four hours in the museum before we decided we were too hungry to continue walking around.  At that point, we had seen basically everything we had wanted to see.  I know, though, that we easily could have spent a full day there or more exploring everything in the museum.  There was so much to see!

 

{Loved seeing artists painting around the museum}

{One of my favorite paintings – it had pictures of all the monuments throughout Rome!}

Lunch consisted of a typical French dish—a croquet-monsieur.  Our sandwiches were untraditional, however, because the restaurant used chicken instead of ham.  Regardless, it was quite good and reminded me a lot of a fancy grilled cheese sandwich.

 

After lunch, we decided to head back to the Cathedral of Notre Dame in order to climb the bell tower. 

{Outside Notre Dame}

We immediately jumped in line (did not want to miss it this time around!), and before we knew it, we were climbing to the top.  The view of Paris was stunning, and I especially loved getting to get close to the famous gargoyles.

 

{Gargoyle “biting” the Eiffel Tower}

{View from the top of the bell tower}

We then headed to the nearby Sainte-Chapelle only to find out that the line was just closing and that we would not be able to go inside.  Not again!!  We knew that we would not be able to come back the next day and decided to see if we could convince the security guard to let us go inside.  After some pretty sad looks and quite a few “but we are leaving Paris tonight” lines, the security guard decided to let the four of us go inside.  We were so incredibly happy and appreciative because we knew we were in for a treat.  Our guidebook had only starred three things in Paris as top-choices, and this chapel was one of the three (the other two were the Louvre and the Opéra Garnier).

 

{Inside the upper chapel}

The chapel was built by Louis IX in the 1240s, and there is both a lower and upper chapel.  The lower chapel leads to the dazzling upper chapel, whose walls are almost completely made of stained glass.  The scenes illuminate more than a thousand figures from the stories of the Bible.  It was an absolutely magical sight.

 

{Another view of the upper chapel}

After seeing the chapel, we headed over to Avenue des Champs-Élysées.  With lights hanging from the trees, the adorable cafés lining the street, and all the shopping surrounding me, I was in heaven.  While most of the stores were out of my price range (Louis Vuitton, Cartier, etc.), it was still quite fun to walk up the street towards the Arc de Triomphe and then to the Place du Trocadéro. 

 

{Walking along Avenue des Champs-Élysées}

 {Display in Louis Vuitton’s window}

From the Place du Trocadéro, you are able to see a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, and there are a number of cute restaurants in this area.  We met up with my friend, Mimi, once again for dinner here.  The restaurant was quite cute, and I once again had a delicious meal—a three-course dinner consisting of a carrot salad, a chicken and rice main course, and an ice cream sundae.

 

{Overlooking the Eiffel Tower with Mimi after dinner}

The next morning, we explored Montmartre and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica before we had to catch our flight back home to Rome.  Montmartre is a neighborhood on a dramatic rise above the city, and it was once the home of a thriving artistic community. 

{In the heart of Montmartre}

The Sacré-Coeur was stunning as was the view of Paris.

 

I absolutely loved visiting Paris, and I hope to go back sometime in the future!