Paris #3 Royalty for a day

I was so tired after yesterday that I slept through the first alarm, probably also because I was using earplugs. We woke up and I had another breakfast of champs, again featuring fresh strawberries. I had way too much breakfast though, so I felt like a bloated fish for too long, which was kinda unpractical really, and majorly uncomfortable as well. It meant that I didn't really focus too much on the paintings in the Louvre, but I felt better during the afternoon, however. That's also when I had my first crepe.

So we went to the Louvre and got in within 30 seconds. It's actually possible when you have a membership. I managed not to drop my jaw on floor even though I really was tempted to so many times. I've seen grand places before, grand buildings as well, but there is just this air of something about French buildings that leaves me complete flabbergasted by wonder.

 

   

We walked far and wide in the Louvre. I saw sarcophagus, a mumie, Venus from Milan, a Greek Victory of War Angel, Mona Lisa, Napoleon III's apartments (sooo gorgeous). All the while I was wondering what I would do if I lived there. The conclusion is that I don't have enough furniture, sadly. The Louvre is big, far bigger than just the iconic glass triangle pyramid.

 

What is amazing about the Louvre is that it's new and old at the same time. It's all polished up, and then you walk into these wings where you can literally feel the history in the room. The scent is unique and it smells like old wood, paintings and history. Napoleon's apartments were very beautiful and also had this heavy weight of history.

  

  

 

We managed to catch a bit of a break in a lovely 'courtyard' filled with beautiful statues. I don't think I've ever seen as much marble as I saw in the Louvre today. Nor the amount of stairs which is annoyingly incredible. Because neither of us felt like climbing anymore excessively unneeded stairs, we decided to go to Notre Dame instead.

 

The idea had been to go up in the towers of Notre Dame, but too many tourists and too little patience. We settled for a stop at a café where we rested up and talked about this and that for the better part of an hour. I also had my very first crêpe - one with caramel and banana. Having rested up and seen the growing line to the tower, it seemed like another indicator that we should just settle for the inside of the cathedral. And we did. It was rather dark, and yet again too many tourists, but I managed to grab some pictures.

  

Leaving the cathedral as tourists became too many and too much, we hitched the subway to Tour Eiffel. We didn't go up in the Eiffel Tower, neither of us really saw a reason for that. However, Cécile exerted her amazing photography skills again. I was amazed by the tallness of that tower. I felt so very tiny.

We had walked by the Seine to get to the Eiffel Tower, and we saw boats having tours down there. Cécile suggested we did one, and I agreed, however, we're going to do one at nighttime rather than today as we didn't have the time.

 

Cécile was getting hungry, and I was debating with my stomach whether I should eat something or not. We went to a café with a view of the tower, and I ordered a Diabolo. Cécile ordered crêpe, a juice and we decided to share five macarons. The Diabolo tasted like mint, and I just couldn't resist it. The macarons were... very unlike the ones I made myself last month. Just to clarify, they were better, as I expected as well.

 

Having rested minds, stomachs and feet we headed home. We have been sitting here for a couple of hours by now, and we're about to eat dinner. Neither of us wanted to cook, so we ordered in.
Tonight we will probably rest up, I might head to bed a wee bit earlier than the past two days so I can be well rested for tomorrow.

If I thought the Louvre was amazing, I have a feeling I'll be awestruck tomorrow when the trips goes to Versailles. Probably I'll have sore feet, but oh dear. I can barely wait.