The next morning, we took a walk to Notre Dame. There are so many amazing churches in Europe. This was one of many we passed by and knew nothing about.
Crossing the Seine to reach Notre Dame:
We happened to visit Paris during La Fête du Pain. In other words, the best time of the year to buy any and all types of breads and pastries. The chefs were teaching students their bread-making secrets.
It was a heavenly second breakfast.
The detail of Notre Dame's architecture is magnificent.
Tyler gave us a free pass to the front of the line to climb to the top of the cathedral. Bringing a baby to Europe has its advantages.
We saw Quasimodo's bell tower:
Three hundred eighty-seven steps later:
We didn't realize until we got home that there is a rooster at the top of the highest spire at Notre Dame that houses spiritual relics.
Next, we took a walk to the Louvre. On the way, Tyler took a nap and we stopped at Sainte Chapelle.
It's nickednamed the "Music Box Chapel" because of all the stained glass.
Almost to the Louvre:
The Louvre was originally a fortress built in the medieval
period and became a royal palace in the fourteenth century. It was used from time to time by the kings of
France as their main Paris residence. It is massive. You could spend weeks there. We were only looking for three exhibits but saw much more because we were lost at least half of the time we were there.
Winged Victory of Samothrace:
Trying to find the Mona Lisa:
You have to have quite a bit of time to get anywhere near the Mona Lisa:
Our favorite part of the Louvre was Napoleon's private apartment. We went there after we found out we could trade Tyler's passport for a stroller. Tyler thought it was the best trade we ever made.
Napoleon's dining room:
Venus de Milo:
Outside the Louvre. In the background is the Arc du Carrousel. Not the Arc de Triomphe, which can also be seen in the distance from this spot. We had a really confusing conversation here...
... and ended up taking the metro to the Arc de Triomphe.
More birds for Tiki.
We were allowed to ride the elevators to the top thanks to le bébé. A model Arc at the top:
From the top, you can see the streets fanning out in the étoile (star) shape, dividing Paris into its arrondissements, or administrative districts. Not sure if Tyler was trying to throw us overboard here....
Tyler enjoyed riding the metro:
We decided if we come back to Sacre Coeur with the kids, we'll take them on the merry-go-round.
Tyler enjoyed riding the funicular up the hill for the price of one carnet (metro ticket).
We were relieved to discover no photography is allowed in Sacre Coeur, but this is what the interior looks like:
We walked back down the hill on the way out.
Tyler found an age-appropriate activity:
Tiki also enjoyed the shoe-closet sized elevator to our hotel room:
We didn't think taking the little guy to a three-hour dinner at a restaurant would be a good idea, so we ordered food from this little charcuterie (delicatessen). We ordered a variety of fun dinner items to eat on our hotel balcony, where we had a good view of people eating outside the restaurant across the street. We also visited a pâtisserie shop and brought back some pastries for dessert.
We were so busy eating I forgot to take a picture of our dinner, but after Tiki and David both passed out early, I enjoyed the rest of my dessert on the balcony.
