Delayed Honeymoon: Oui Oui, Husband & Me

ack, cheesiest title ever, but humor me please! The creative juices are flowing, so I'm going to truck out these Honeymoon posts and have fun remembering the silly, funny moments of our trip!

Day 4 was to begin with Notre Dame and you'd better believe there was quite the agenda planned! Sneakers were a must, and it was time to tackle the metro! First things first, out of the hotel and into John & Stacy's apartment.  This was one of the most wonderful experiences, as their apartment was like a home away from home, with a great guest room and puppy! Oh, and there were trees! The middle of Paris, and we were walking through gardens and trees!

Notre Dame is free to visit, so the line is quite long - we got there about 9am, which was when it opened.  Thank goodness it was a nice day out, as we waited in line for about 30 minutes.  Actually, that is not entirely accurate.  Kevin waited in line, and I took pictures.

Once inside, we caught the beginning of services, which run about every 90 minutes through the tourist season. The amount of history in one building, in addition to the number of people inside, was astounding! More than a dozen stained glass windows allow plenty of light into the church, and attract your eye from all sides! My attempt at an "artsy" photo didn't turn out quite as well as I wanted <----, but, I think I like it! Plans to climb to the top of the church were dashed by the multiple hour long line, and the 10 Euros per person.

 

 

 

Instead, we walked around outside and hopped back on the Yellow line to Invalides!  I couldn't help but think of Christopher for most of the 3 hours we spent at L'Hôtel national des Invalides - it was history geek central! The quantity and beauty of the cannons, tanks, uniforms, and general memorbilia was astounding! And when you were done with the contents of the buildings, the gardens, courtyard, and general construction was beautiful!

Oh, and we weren't done yet! After a quick lunch, we had the afternoon to spend at the Louvre! Even with map in hand, we were hopelessly lost for the better part of an hour.  But what a beautiful place to be lost! We mostly did the "highlights" tour - Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, Wedding Feast at Cana, Winged Victory, and Slave by Michelangelo. I had heard before that the Mona Lisa was a bit anti-climactic, and I was very sorry to see that those opinions were correct.  While it is beautiful, the amount of glass and surrounding material takes away from the beauty, and being 5 feet away makes it hard to really enjoy.  I must admit that Winged Victory was my favorite, and you're able to get so close!

...but the day isn't over yet!