We headed straight for the Mona Lisa after buying our tickets since we were on a mission to see it, spend time appreciating it, and move on. No such luck. We muscled through layer upon layer of tourists for a few shots of the portrait and reluctantly moved on. We decided then to just enjoy the many artifacts and displays that lay ahead of us.
The Louvre was quite amazing but we realized mid-way through the tour of the Egyptian collection that we actually could not see all that we wanted to see unless we'd planned on making it a 3 day excursion. We set off on foot for our next destination-Notre Dame.
Just before we approached the Notre Dame front entrance we realized that a bathroom break was in order. And since most French restaurants require that you pay to use their facilities we opted for Paris's version of the public bathroom. We expected something along the lines of a porta-potty yet what we encountered could be more accurately described as the Robo-cop of bathrooms. It closes, cleans itself, and then an indicator light lets you know when it's ready for use. Steph never knew she could love a bathroom facility so much!
We entered Notre Dame and quickly discovered that we got very lucky with our timing of this visit. Just as we began exploring we heard the faint sounds of a choir singing, indicating that mass had begun. The church hymns set the tone for our tour, the sounds reverberating off the walls and ceilings. The flying buttresses (woo hoo! something from European history class DID stick!)that we remember reading about in school were so incredible that it's hard to believe we ever forgot about them to begin with. Unfortunately we did not get to visit the upstairs to see the gargoyle statues (the tour groups followed us here as well) but we still got to spend time appreciating the splendor of this magnificent (and free to the public!) cathedral.
By this point we were exhausted and Michael's cold that he'd picked up was now presenting a new challenge to his stamina. Knowing that we wouldn't have many more days in Paris we dug down deep and hit our super sonic power buttons to keep us moving. We were determined to make it to the Arc di Triumph and as we headed up the never-ending hill of the shopping district (all kinds of obstacles thrown in our way!) we crossed our imaginary finish line at the arc's base. We explored the area near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, read the walls of names of men who had died fighting Napoleon's battles, and marveled at the sheer size and dimension of this monument. Then we watched in awe as cars and scooters competed for the same roadway around the arc, known to be one of the most dangerous traffic circles in world. In fact, the traffic circle is so dangerous that the arc is most easily accessible underground as to avoid the constant massacre of tourists darting across traffic towards the arch. Good thinking, French folk.
At this point we'd truly hit a wall. The hotel was a crap ton away (we decided today that that should be a new metric system based on our level of fatigue)and we were pretty hungry. Enter the crepe stand. As if it was meant to be, seemingly appearing out of nowhere was this marvelous stand where a variety of crepes are prepared fresh on request. Me, a crepe with nutella and banana and for Michael, a crepe with nutella and almonds. Oh. My. God. There's no way to successfully describe this fantastic concoction so we'll let the pictures speak for themselves:
A perfect end to a very eventful day. After an 8 1/2 mile walk around the city we had died and gone to Paris with crepes in hand...
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