Adventures In Europe; Day 9

The Rain, The Louvre, and the Crepes

We had big big plans for our first full day in Paris.  We hit the streets fairly early heading for the first stop on our Rick Steve's Historic Paris Walk; Notre Dame.

Unfortunately as we made our way from the subway to the cathedral, it started to rain.  Like, really rain.  In preparation for rain we had packed two umbrellas.  And they were safe & sound in our suitcases.  Awesome.

We kept on trucking though.

In front of Notre Dame.

As we waited in line, a whole herd of French "sales-men" came out of no where to sell umbrellas to the long line of tourists who were getting soaked in line.  We instinctively said no, because these guys were obviously just taking advantage of the public in a bad situation.

So we just stood in line and continued to get soaked.  Brilliant.

When we did get into the cathedral it was everything I'd hoped.  We Catholics love our traditional, ornate, churches.  And Notre Dame did not disappoint.

Original Stained Glass.

We followed the line through the cathedral past every saint you've ever heard of.  All of the saints had candles that you could light and say a prayer for a suggested donation.  The lesser known saints were usually 1 euro, while the big names were 5 euros.

Joan of Arc.



The stations of the cross.

I stopped at a statue of Mary to light a candle and say a quick prayer for my grandma. 

You can see the beginning of the end of the sock bun.

The church is so old, and there is just so much detail.  Below you can see a sculpture of Saint Denis.  He's the one who is holding his head in his hands, literally.  The story goes that Denis was beheaded for being a Christian, but instead of just going out quietly he picked up his head and continued walking and preaching the word of God.  So, yeah... obviously he's awesome.

Headless Denis.

Hi!

We left the cathedral and tried to continue our Historic Walk.  News flash: its really hard to read a guidebook while it's raining.  Especially if you don't have an umbrella. 

So we ditched the walk and headed for lunch.

Chicken & Fries.

Paris is so nice because there are cafes everywhere!  You will never lack a place to eat.  I had some of the best salads ever while in Paris.

Yummy.

We ended up going into a little gift shop and buying a cheap, crappy umbrella (for like twice what the guys on the street had been selling them for), and then heading to the Louvre.  We decided we could wait out the rain by hanging out and seeing some art.

In line for the Louvre.

 

 

Inside the Pyramid.

Inside the Louvre.

I know I've said this several times, but Rick Steves was so essential for our trip.  I read up on the must-sees at the Louvre and we followed his guided walk.  The museum is so huge and overwhelming that if we hadn't had our guide book we would have just wondered around with no idea what we were looking at.

Venus de Milo was my home-girl!

Pretty sure she was modeled after me.

We obviously couldn't leave without seeing Mona.  The crowd was so insanely ridiculous to see her.  And she was kind of tiny and underwhelming.  But still, it was cool to see her in person.

The Mona Lisa.

We tried really hard to be mature and appreciate the art.  But sometimes I struggle.  Especially with the naked dudes. 

Here I am appreciating Michelangelo's Rebellious and Dying Slave sculptures.

Drew enjoys these fellows.

The Louvre was a great experience, even for us silly kids who can't appreciate art and lack... maturity.  My favorite part was posing outside the pyramid.

I'm so tall!

Wondrously as we were leaving the museum, the sun came out to play!  We headed towards the Champ de Elysees; one of the most famous streets in Paris.

On the way we hit up what became one of my favorite things in Paris; the crepe cart.  Crepes are thin pancakes filled with either savory items like meat and cheese or sweets like... Nutella and bananas.  You know what I picked.

Oh happy day!

The Champ de Elysees is lined with stores and trendy cafes.  At the top of the street is the Arc de Triomphe, which was commissioned by Napoleon, but I don't think he ever got to see it.  The allied soldiers made their way down the Champ de Elysees as they freed Paris from Nazi occupation.



Arc de Triomphe.

The flagship Louis Vuitton store is located along the Champ de Elysees and I kid you not, there was a line to get in.  I guess they want a salesperson to escort each customer, so you have to wait until someone is available.  Crazy.

That dog will not let you cut.

The macaroon craze is in full force in Paris.  Check out this display.  If that doesn't get you drooling, I don't know what will!

Screw the wedding cake, we want macaroons!

The Gibsons in front of the Arc.

After making our way up and down the most famous street in Paris, we made our way back to our favorite street in Paris; Rue Cler.  Dinner was at our favorite; Café du Marche.

We love this place!

Veggie Quiche... hooray!

We picked up some wine & goodies and headed back to the tower.

Opening up that bad boy!

We LOVE the Eiffel Tower!

Since it had rained all day, the grass was pretty wet.  I walked around testing the ground and trying to find a dry spot, but was unsuccessful.  So I decided to sit on the *empty* wine bag.  A woman approached us and offered her picnic blanket because she & her family were leaving.  How nice is that?!?  We gladly accepted.

As we were getting comfy and enjoying our wine, Drew asked about the macaroons I had purchased. 

I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT THEM!!!

They were in the wine bag and I sat on them.  I sat on my beautiful macaroons!

Noooooo!!!!!

Squished... by my butt.

Thank goodness we still had wine.  Check out our cute to-go cups!

So so happy!

And you know I still ate those butt-squished macaroons.  They were delicious.

Why did I sit on them?!?!

All of a sudden a mass of people on bikes with horns and noisemakers started circling the park chanting something.  We couldn't figure out what they were protesting, but they sounded MAD!  Both of us agreed that is sounded like they were chanting, "Get off!  Get off!  Get off the bus!"  Seems logical...

"Get off, get off, get off the bus!"

Can't beat that view.

Chilling.

I was oh so pleased when it finally got dark and they lit up the tower.  Occasionally it would start to sparkle!  You can't really tell in the picture, but the whole thing just glittered.  It may have been one of my favorite moments in Paris.

Sparkles!

♥♥♥

 Such a lovely night, and day for that matter!  It wasn't what we'd planned, but it was wonderful all the same.

 

Lessons Learned:

1. Pack an umbrella and BRING IT WITH YOU!  Carrying an umbrella around when it isn't raining is far less annoying than walking around without one when it is raining.

2.  If it is raining and you are stuck in line and someone offers to sell you an umbrella; buy it!

3.  Do not sit on your macaroons!