Paris Tourists

We started our day out at the Eiffel Tower again, because I really wanted to see it in the daylight and walk to the top.

 We didn't want to wait in the long line for the elevator so we took the stairs and walked as far up as we could before we had to take the elevator all the way to the top. It was crazy to watch the people below us slowly turn into little ants. 

View from the top of the tower. You can see just a hint of fall beginning in the trees. 

We then met up with our friends and walked over to the Musee de Louvre and also stopped for a crepe....because it just felt wrong not to have a crepe in my hand. Also, you can imagine how much fun Dave had with the word crepe, over and over again. *insert emoji smirk here*

The Louvre is the worlds largest museum and we spent a good part of our day here roaming the halls and looking at all the art and sculptures.  There is so much to see that it can be overwhelming, but a few pieces really stood out to me. I loved seeing the Winged Victory and learning more about the story behind her. The statue was created to honor a naval battle victory of the people of the island Samothrace in the early 2nd century BC.  It was found by Charles Champoiseau in 1863.  He also discovered a the ruins of small building and a pile of large blocks of marble. He thought they were from a tomb and so he just left them in place not knowing that it was actually the ship portion of this sculpture. 

The Mona Lisa was the other piece that I really enjoyed seeing. It's so much smaller than I expected and they keep the lights so dim (to preserve the art) that it was kind of hard to see. The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world and it was awesome to see it with my own eyes. 

The rest of our tour through the Louvre looked a lot like this.....haha! So many strange statues!

We Louvred that Louvre and were pretty happy to be back out in fresh air!

We then followed our tour guide and walked along the Seine over to the Notre Dame. As much as I love seeing the museums and cathedrals, I think I love just strolling the streets just as much. There is so much beauty everywhere you look.  We forgot to bring our lock to place on the love lock bride, so I guess that just means we have to come back! 

A beautiful structure, but the atmosphere inside the Notre Dame Cathedral was the same as the lighting: dark. I felt a strange uneasiness as I walked inside.  Maybe it was just the creepy gargoyles staring down at me. 

Touchdown Jesus! Apparently  I need to watch the movie Rudy to understand this.

We then walked around the calm streets of Île Saint-Louis. Most of the shops were closed for the day but several flower markets were still out in full bloom. 

Then we went back to our hotel to clean up before going to our last dinner in Paris before heading home.  We had the most magical 2 days in Paris! I could spend several more days here and I can't wait to come back one day.