Fantastic Voyage

Sainte-Chapelle, Notre Dame, and the Louvre

After breakfast in the hotel, our tour group assembled and walked to the metro. Dave gave everyone an orientation on how to navigate the subway system. We were glad to have had the extra few days to figure things out ourselves, but Dave was full of knowledge, and he knew the stations like the back of his hand. We took the metro to Châtelet station and walked toward Sainte-Chapelle, stopping to read a plaque where a member of the French resistance was shot and killed and to understand the history of the Wallace Fountains.

After Sainte-Chapelle we strolled through the Latin Quarter and then to Notre Dame. The late September weather seemed the perfect time to travel. The weather remained warm and the crowds were relatively light. If we had more time, I'd like to go back and explore the Latin Quarter further.

Notre Dame

We walked around the outside of the cathedral and then got in line to enter. The line seemed long, but it moved quickly. We did see a few folks asking people in the queue for money, which was sad. Inside, Notre Dame was much larger inside than I had expected. We lit candles for departed family and then walked counter-clockwise around the peripheral of the nave and transept to explore the building.

Louvre

Our group split up after the Notre Dame tour, but Dave offered to take whoever was interested in the Louvre and show us an easy way to enter using our Museum Passes. We had lunch in the food court in the Louvre and then did the rounds to see the highlights (Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and the Mona Lisa). Dawn and I wanted time to take in the city one last time, so we didn't spend more than 3 hours in the Louvre. There is way more to see, and we'll spend the day next time.

Orangerie Museum

Continuing to leverage our museum pass, we stopped in at the Orangerie Museum in the Tuileries Gardens on our way back from the Louvre. On the way into the museum, we saw an entourage being ushered into the museum, once inside we ran across the group and later found out it was the famous Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto who was in Paris for fashion week.

Monet's massive Water Lillies paintings are the highlight of the Orangerie.

Dinner and the Arc de Triomphe

After the Louvre, we did some shopping (they have wonderful macaroons in the Louvre lobby) and headed back to the hotel. Tonight was dinner on our own, so we made reservations at Le Hide (10 Rue du Général Lanrezac). The meal was excellent yet we weren't done for the day. We had one more site to see before we wrapped up our time in Paris; We headed out to go to the top of the Arc to see the city lit up at night one last time. If you go, bring comfortable shoes, there are a lot of steps to climb to get to the top.