Paris in Pictures

Our trip to Paris in early April was wonderful.  It is a magnificent and beautiful city!  After arriving late on a Thursday night we started our sight-seeing on Friday by visiting the National Opera House, or the Palais Garnier.  Laurie was excited to see the birthplace of ballet and Jake and Mary-Kate were amazed at the beautiful paintings, sculptures, and chandeliers throughout the amazing building.  It was evident immediately that Paris was a proud city with grandeur and beauty around every corner.

Next we walked up the largest hill in Paris to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica.  Walking up the steep hill wasn't enough climbing once we heard that we could climb a stair well to the very top of the Basilica.

On Friday we also started checking out more museums and fell in love with the Louvre. It was amazing to see such a large museum and to see so many of the paintings and sculptures that we saw in our college art history and humanitarian textbooks, including the Mona Lisa and plenty of Greek god and goddess sculptures. Mary-Kate didn't care too much for the fancy art, but she was happy to take a break from the ergo carrier and hang out on the soft benches.

On Saturday we decided to attend church at the Notre Dame Cathedral and climbed up Quasimodo's towers to see all of the gargoyles on the top of the Cathedral.  Paris loves historic art and apparently having people to climb up steps to the top of historic buildings.

                          

 

One church wasn't enough so we decided to check out the most amazing stain-glassed windows at the Cistine Chapel.

Sunday morning we woke up to a party right outside our flat with loud music and African drummers.  We walked out to see what the occasion was and there were over 40,000 runners passing by as part of the Paris Marathon.  We jogged along with the marathoners for a bit, went inside the Notre Dame Cathedral for Mass and then escaped the city to see the beauty of the Palace of Versailles.  We met another LDS couple on the train there and the former Paris missionary helped us navigate our way around the articulate palace.  Mary-Kate was just happy to get out of the Ergo Wrap and enjoy some time in the grass on one of the first sunny days of her life.

 

On Monday we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomph, because we found out that most museums close on Mondays in Europe.  We stopped by the one museum that was open on Monday - the Musée de l'Orangerie to see walls upon walls of Monet lilies and other amazing paintings.   Laurie faced her fears and took an lift all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower where we could see all of the places in Paris we had just visited as well as the Arc d'Triomph.  Mary-Kate was caught bird watching and enjoying the sun in the grass again enjoying a break from being in the carrier. Then we walked over to the Arc had a baguette and cheese and then took a much shorter lift to the top of the Arc to see a view of the Eiffel Tower.

Tuesday was sadly our last day in what Laurie described as her favorite city of all time (sorry New York).  We walked around the gardens outside the Louvre and enjoyed the last of many crepes and pastries that we had spoiled ourselves with over the fast several days, crossed the bridge of love and locked our families love together, then went to the Musee d'Orsay, which was mesmerizing and in some ways more impressive than the Louvre - with a plethora of Van Gogh and other famous paintings side by side in a relatively compact museum. Jake decided he could be Vincent Van Gogh next Halloween. Then we walked the long way home along the River Seine and soaked in as much French spring sun rays as we could before heading back to Ireland.  I'd say the trip was the perfect length and it was so nice to have some nice weather after the long, rainy Irish Winter.