Day 3- The Louvre & Notre Dame

Sunday Aug. 31

So today was our 6th anniversary. Besides being in Paris we didn't do anything to special. Our Eiffel tower dinner the night before was pretty much our anniversary celebration.

We had plans of going to the LDS church in town today, but we slept in far too late. We however did make it to two catholic churches but also missed their mass. So although we did attend church we missed the service.

We had a delicious French pastry breakfast as we walked to the Louvre which wasn’t too far from our hotel. It was gorgeous! We probably enjoyed the history of the building and architecture far more then we did the pieces inside. We spent two hours in the building. The paintings on the ceiling were incredible and the colors were so vivid. Our first stop in the Louvre was the Mona Lisa. It was so much smaller then I excepted but so much more beautiful then you see in prints. I very much enjoyed her exhibit. We also saw some very old crowns which I also enjoyed seeing.

A building across the street from he Louvre. Not sure what it was.

The point of the island. We went and stay out there later that night with all the locals.

A statue that is actually clothed on the Louvre.

From far away the people looked like they were walking on water. Here is Jared trying to make it look like he was standing on water.

Some French man who looked like he was laying on the water.

See the Mona Lisa in the back, so small.

This was a railing made out of stone. The building itself was so cool.

After the Louvre we went inside a church just across the street. It was very beautiful. Then we had some lunch which was not very exciting at all. I wish I took a picture of our meal. Jared ordered ham jubilee and I ordered ham jubilee with melon. I am glad I got melon with mine. The waitress brought out a plate of bacon topped with a small amount of greenery. And that was it. The bacon or ham was dry and very salty. I didn’t like it at all and my tummy was getting a little sick. Jared enjoyed it but would have liked something else with it. I am glad I had some melon to eat instead. The cantaloupe was delicious. The couple sitting next to us was from Canada. She ordered the same thing as Jared but her husband ordered the escargot. That was an experience. I don’t think I had ever before seen it and being pregnant wasn’t the time to see someone eat snails. They were a very nice couple and he offered me a snail and told me it would be much better then the “ham.” I however couldn’t accept. If I hadn’t been pregnant I might have been a little braver. Until next time then.

After lunch we went inside the Notre Dame. The self guided tour is free of course except for a view at the treasure room which we did enter and the hike to the bell tower. The line for the bell tower was very long and I am not sure what the cost was. We opted out. But the treasure room as well as the cathedral it self was interesting and very beautiful.

We were surprised to learn that the lower panels of some of the stained windows actually opened.

I would have enjoyed another nap at this point but instead of going back to the hotel we hopped onto the tour bus. It wasn’t crowded on the bottom and I was able to search out and get a little shut eye while Jared took in some more sights. We went to the Grand Palace next which had a nice exhibit and then we hopped on the bus again to the Eiffel tower. We got some ice cream and walked around the grounds a little deciding what to do next. I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty in Paris. It was quite a hike over to it but we did it. I have now seen Lady Liberty in Las Vegas and Paris but have yet to see the really thing.

The Grand Place

My lower back was killing me from all the walking we did. I have awful posture. We grabbed a bite to eat to hold my stomach over a little, true French French Fries and a Coke. The fries were very good with very little grease and salt. Coke is about the only kind of soda you can get in France. They have Coke and Orange soda and some places even have Sprite but that is it. However Jared was surprised with a Pepsi Friday night at dinner. Anyway, after the bite to eat we caught the subway back to the hotel. The subway was a very interesting experience sine I have never used such transportation before or ever seen how it works. We got the hang of it quickly.

This is the place where we had the yummy French Fries. And it was a building I also imaginedParis to look like, white buildings with red flowers.

At the hotel I took a nap before dinner, while Jared walked back over to Notre Dame to buy a picture he had seen and really liked. He got turned around and got lost for a moment on his way back to the hotel. I was a little worried when I did wake up and he still wasn’t back. But after renting a bike along the side of the rode, he made it back and we went out for Chinese dinner of all places. Then we walked down to the river where all the locals spend their evenings. It was a lovely experience. However while on the river we saw some large French Rats running around the park. There was about four of them chasing each other and they were so big, it was sick.