Paris Day 1

Today was BUSY!  We did a lot and it was fun, but slightly exhausting.  That's OK though.  It was all good.  We had a quick continental breakfast in the hotel so we could get a jump on our day.  We took the Metro to Notre Dame (even though our hotel is a little outside of the center of Paris it's very convenient to the heart of Paris via the Metro; we don't even have to change lines) and walked around it for a bit.  It's an amazing structure and a remarkable monument to the faithful dedication of those who built it.  

After that we walked just up the street to Sainte-Chapelle. The stained glass is stunning!  We are also excited to learn that there would be a concert in the chapel that night.... Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" which is one of our favorites.  So, of course we bought tickets.  

We walked along the Seine down to the Louvre where we spent a couple of hours, mostly spending time looking at the paintings. Then we had a traditional French lunch at Cafe le Nemours.  I ordered a Croque Monsier and Jay got the Croque Madame.  

We kept walking north up toward the L'Opera, then down through the Place Vendome, then through the beautiful Jardins des Tuileries.  We sat next to the fountain to rest for a while and relax before going in to the Musee de L'Orangerie to view Monet's "Waterlilies" and many other Impressionist works.  

Then we headed west toward the Eiffel Tower, enjoying the scenes along the way.  We also stopped at the Musee L'Armee and Napoleon's Tomb.  It's pretty impressive..... a massive shrine to a little man. The guy was pretty full of himself.  

The weather was lovely so we enjoyed lying on the grass in the park next to the Eiffel Tower.  And yes, we did a little smooching.  It's Paris!  

We took the Metro back to where we started so we could catch the concert at Sainte-Chapelle.  It was excellent!  They chamber orchestra was excellent, and the setting was so unique and interesting. Very memorable!

After the concert we walked though the Latin quarter, picked a bistro at random (there is one on every corner) and had a late dinner.  Then we took the Metro back to our hotel.  Whew!  What a day!