Five Days in Paris: Packing in the Sites

On Saturday morning, we set down for a breakfast of French toast casserole. Then, Cousin C ferried us to the train station, helped us purchase our public transportation tickets for the day, and we headed out to see the sites.

The first stop was Notre Dame. On the aforementioned boat tour (see Part 1), I had glimpsed the cathedral from the outside, but this was my first time to see inside the world renowned building.

We didn't head up into the towers. It was just too cloudy; besides, we already had plenty on the agenda for the day. We did however, make a loop around the interior. While it was very large and the stained glass was pretty, I wouldn't say it was much different than other cathedrals I have toured. In addition, the combination of tour groups, people talking, and loud footsteps, made the church feel less sacred and more like just another site to see.

Inside Notre Dame

After Notre Dame, we made our way over to Sainte-Chapelle, built in the 1200s by King Louis IX of France to house biblical relics. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to go through a metal detector, as the church is surrounded by government buildings. Inside, however, it was worth the wait. While much smaller than Notre-Dame, this chapel amazed me with the intricate stained glass covering the second floor. The building is made up of a lower and upper chapel. The lower chapel, beautifully painted, was created as a parish church for the residents of the palace, while only the royal party was allowed in the upper chapel.

Upper Chapel

After visiting the two churches, we were beginning to get hungry. We decided to hold out until we got near the
Musée National du Moyen Âge and eat at the crepe stand A had recommended. When we got to the crepe stand, we didn't know whether to get 2 crepes each or 2 to share. We eventually decided we could share a savory and a sweet one, and then if we were still hungry we could get a snack later. We enjoyed the two crepes (ham and cheese & nutella and Grand Marnier) we got, but I don't think we could have taken another bite!

In the Moyen Âge (middle ages) museum, I enjoyed looking at the old stained glass and original statues from sites around Paris. I also liked this old comic-book style fighting manual, displayed in the museum.

Fighting Manual

Mr. Traveler didn't find the museum quite as interesting and was especially bored by the many items used in old Catholic services, including incense boats and many objects we couldn't identify. He did, however, enjoy spotting dogs in the stained glass and tapestry displays.

Dog in the Stained Glass

Next, we moved on to the Musée d'Orsay which is located in an old train station and known for its collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces. Photographs are not allowed in the museum, but many can be located on their Web site. Not an art aficionado, I enjoyed this museum, but didn't mind moving rather quickly between the exhibits. When we had seen the majority of pieces, we stopped for some coffee in the museum cafe and enjoyed resting our legs for a few minutes.

The next item on our agenda was the Musée Rodin, which showcases works by the creator of The Thinker. However, we decided we were kind of tired of looking at sculptures, since we had hurried past that area at the Orsay in favor of the paintings.

Instead, we opted to visit the Tomb of Napoléon at the Invalides. We were so glad that we made this decision, because it ended up being one of our favorite parts of our visit. The dome, the tomb itself, and the magnificent lighting inside left us with a sense of awe.

Tomb of Napoléon

After leaving the tomb, we were pretty close to the Eiffel Tower, so we decided to end our sightseeing there for the day. We climbed up the steps behind the tower and took some photos looking back over the park.

At the Eiffel Tower

We ended up back in the Latin Quarter for dinner and opted for a rather touristy French restaurant. The price was right, and the food was decent, but there were quite a lot of Americans enjoying their dinner alongside us. After dinner, we hopped on the train, headed back to Cousin C and A's place and planned our adventures for the followings day.

Stay tuned for the next installment of our Paris adventures, when we go to visit Versailles.