Friday, July 17th ~ Paris, France
The Louvre Museum
We wrapped up our Gate 1 tour today with an included city tour. Several of these pictures were snapped through the bus window, so the quality is not quite up to snuff with some slight distortion or glass reflection. I hope you will still enjoy seeing our highlights.
Napoleon’s smaller Arc – The Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel located next to the Louvre Museum
Napoleon’s Tomb ~ Dome des Invalides
Gus and the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
After the bus tour finished up we were on our own to explore. First thing we did was get a local SIM card so that we would have decent WiFi while on board the river cruise. Then we took off walking from our hotel to the Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
At the top of my list of things to see while in Paris was a revisit to Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral, aka Holy Chapel. When Tim and I were last here (about 8-9 years ago) we fell in love with this stain glass masterpiece. It was undergoing some renovations at the time, and I wanted to see the end results.
I would rank this Cathedral in the top three most beautiful churches we have every seen, and if you have followed our travels for any length of time, you know we have seen a LOT of churches over the years…
St Chapelle Cathedral
Please be patient. The slide show may take a minute to load depending upon your computer speed, but hopefully you will agree it was worth the wait 🙂
Since we were so close, we hopped over to Notre Dame Cathedral. We had talked about climbing to the top for the view and to check out the gargoyles, but after seeing the line we decided to pass. We did however go inside. After seeing St Chapelle, it is almost stark in comparison, but still a beautiful Cathedral. And no, we did not see the hunch back…
Notre Dame Cathedral
Paris is the city of L.O.V.E. and is known for their love locks on the bridge next to Notre Dame.
Love Locks
We also saw several brides getting photographed which certainly went with the theme.
Pretty bride
Dancing next to the Seine River
Tim was getting hungry and we drooled over these beautiful tomatoes. A BLT sounded great.
Made my mouth water
Finally, after a decent dinner in the Latin Quarter of Quiche Lorraine, it was time to head back to our hotel. It is quite easy to get around Paris via their efficient metro system.
Paris metro
During rush hour the trains were full, in fact we barely squeezed in – just part of the adventure
Gratitude Moment: Today I am grateful that we got to see St Chapelle after the renovations had been completed. I hope that if you find yourself in Paris with a few extra minutes you will consider visiting. It truly is stunning.
A Note From Abroad 
Your photos and post is perfect. I’ll visit Paris if you and Tim will be my tour guides.
Shine On
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I think that is a wonderful idea!
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Magnificent, all.
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Thank you for liking my blog. You may be interested in visiting my B&W post on Chartres Cathedral I published a couple of weeks ago – and then hopefully visiting it in reality! Lovely glass and stonework. You are right about St. Chapelle – It is No. I in my book. Des.
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We visited the Chartres Cathedral last time we were in Paris. It has such a darkness about it with all of the gargoyles, but we found it beautiful in an unusual way.
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St Chapelle looks stunning now that renovations are done and scaffolding removed.
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Yes it does. When we last saw it the entire front interior of the church was covered in scaffolding. I definitely liked this better!
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How lucky that you had a bright day to see Ste Chapelle. It is an amazing place!
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Yes, the natural light is so important.
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Great shots! 🙂 We missed that amazing church when we were there. For next time!
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Yes, definitely for next time!
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Joanne and Tim, We so enjoyed meeting you. What a great job you have done of capturing our adventures on the Paris to Normandy cruise. Many thanks for your summary as it helps us relive the joy and the ecstasy of our first cruise. Nick and Sherry Edson
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Thank you so much! We also enjoyed meeting both of you. The people we get to share these special memories with are a huge part of why we love to travel. I am way behind on my blog. The Internet on the SS Catherine was not up to speed, (but I understand that will be corrected soon), so I just decided to enjoy the journey. We took lots of pictures and I will be playing catch up when we get home after the 5th.
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I didn’t get to Sainte-Chapelle, but looking at your photos, I wish I had!
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Great excuse for a return visit – as if one ever needs an excuse to go to Paris!!!
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