Today we got an earlier start for a change. Laura got up to go running, and I got the kids up a little later. After we got going, we headed over to meet Laura who was saving a spot in line for us at the Notre Dame towers. They open up at 10am. The kids and I got there around 9:30... Laura had gotten there about 9am and she'd been the 5th person in line. After eating take-away breakfast from a nearby vendor in line, we breezed in at 10 when the doors opened.
I like this site. It's fun to climb the towers and the view is spectacular!
After coming down from the towers, we went to the Crypte Archéologique in front of the cathedral. It was interesting to read and see how the ancient town of Lutetia grew into Paris.
After that, we headed back to the apartment for lunch... it was close by and having a quiet, cool refuge with our own food to duck into nearby is handy.
After a relaxing spell back at the apartment, we went to the Louvre again. I'm liking this "Louvre in bite-size chunks" approach. I've been told that if you spent 30 seconds looking at every piece of art on display there and you could do it 27/7 it would still take you 6 1/2 months to see it all. Fortunately, we're not trying to see it all. Today, we started off with the display of the medieval Louvre foundations uncovered in 1989 during renovations. Then finished off with some big paintings.
After the museum closed we took a spin through the book store. Katie and Charlie bought a copy of Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians because they wanted to focus on those exhibits tomorrow.
Then, it was off to dinner. We went to Le Gorille Blanc based on the recommendation of friends. It was really good. I had a gazpacho starter off the specials menu that was outstanding. The girls ordered crispy duck and enjoyed it. Charlie had beef. Laura and I had fish and the preferred desert with was ginger/mint infused chocolate mousse that was so good we had to get Elodie her own because she so regretted not ordering it when the rest of us did.
When we finished with dinner, we set off for the Montebello quay across from the cathedral to catch a one-hour Seine cruise. The timing was perfect we watched the sun set as we saw sights now becoming familiar to us from the river. And, we got to see the Eiffel Tower light up for the first time this trip.
It was a nice way to end the day.
Tomorrow, there's more Louvre in store, as well as Sainte-Chapelle and the Musée de l'Orangerie.
