Day 2, A slight chill in the air but the sun was up and beautiful. The plan for the day was to see Sainte-Chapelle, Notre-Dame, and the Luxembourg Gardens. We are thrilled when we are able to do more than one thing a day with the kids so I was a little nervous that we would not be able to do as much as we hoped to do.
First look at the Eiffel Tower in the distance of the Seine River.
Palais De Justice on the back side of Sainte-Chapelle. I think this building was mentioned in the movie The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
There appeared to be a long line to get into the chapel so I took the 3 oldest kids and went for a quick walk to discover things close by. This clock (15-20 feet tall) was on the corner. Beautiful.
The Fontaine Du Chatelet: a monument built honoring Napoleonic victories.
To the kids, it was a fountain they could toss things in when dad was not looking...
Just beyond this was this really neat structure: Tour Saint-Jacques. It is what remains of an old church.
Charlotte wanted a picture by herself. The tower is surrounded by a nice sitting area/garden.
This must be Saint Jack? Not sure as there was a gate and we could not walk any closer to the tower.
About this time Jari called frustrated she had been standing in line and people seemed to be jumping out of line and simply going inside the church. We walked back and sure enough, we went to a separate entrance where we could just walk into Sainte-Chappel. Oops. Sorry, Jari.
Sainte-Chapelle from the outside. This little church is situated inside a government building complex which was interesting to me.
Jari looking as good as ever enjoying the sites.
Bottom floor. Lovely ceiling.
This is a statue of King Louis IX, who built Sainte-Chapelle to house his collection of holy relics. The Crown of Thorns is the most valued, believed by some to be the very one that Jesus was forced to wear, Sainte-Chapelle, of Holy Chapel, is known for its 13th century stained glass, now restored, brilliant, and stunningly beautiful.
We hoped to be there earlier for the sunlight to come through in the morning but the lighting was still nice in my book.
some old pieces of the church that have fallen off or been removed for renovation.
Second floor. The stained glass here was different in that the pieces of glass were so small. It was like a mosaic and really beautiful.
The rose window has been restored. I overheard a guide telling some people that the use of light yellows was done because it was cheaper and faster to restore.
A close-up of the Rose window. The leaves carved of stone are called tracery.
Blurry Picture but it says that the chapel was built to house the crown of thorns placed on Christ's head during the Crucifixion when the crown was obtained in the 12th century. Since that time it has been moved to the Notre-Dame where they bring it out of the treasury to worship it once a year.
The tympanum entry stonework on the balcony
I did learn from this trip that Hazel really likes stained glass.
Notre-Dame! Or at least that is what I was thinking. The kids were more excited about the pigeons. They expected them to fly away so it took some convincing of Zachary that he should not kick at the pigeons as he would likely actually kick them. They were waiting for food and would not fly away quickly. This turned into continual requests by Charlotte to buy bread to feed the birds.
The building truly is magnificent from the outside as well as the inside.
"No big deal, just eating crepes and listing to bells ring at noon at the Notre Dame"
Zachary was a little bit crazy so I had to take some selfies with him and talk to him about the structure and what we were seeing. He does ok if you teach him one on one.
This is a small chapel along the aisle. The glass at the top is a quatrefoil (leaf or flower petal) tracery - stone shaped into the four-petal design, representing God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and mankind on Earth. Each window pane represents a story from the scriptures or an earthy experience between people and God.
So big! These are Gothic Arches that are pointed. The second level is the triforium and walkway called the mezzanine, and the stained glass at the top are clerestory windows, directly on the outside wall.
Behind the children is the large Rose window, which represents the Rosary, or the set prayers in the Catholic Church.
Not sure if you can appreciate how large this church is. This is a closer view of the triforium or mezzanine, the Rose window to the left, and the clerestory windows on the top right. The ceiling shows rib valuting.
I did not take pictures but there were some neat sculptures (wood?) of Christ's life. We did not pay the extra money inside to see the treasury to see the crown of thorns. Should I have...?
(Note from later editing: The Crown of Thorns was quickly removed from the Treasury at the beginning of the Fire of 2019 that damaged the roof and interior of Notre Dame. It was later put on display at the Louvre)
The kids were enthralled with the candles. After a brief explanation, they too wanted to offer their little prayers so a few Euros later we had some candles and we let the kids light them.
Hazel blew so hard on the stick that she blew her candle out too so I had Charlotte re-light hers.
The classic 'Hazel Look of Concern' when doing something unfamiliar to her.
Love my lady (and little ladies also, but especially Mama).
Was hoping for a picture by myself...
Did not turn out so well.
Quick view of the River Seine.
Browsing art. We did not buy a painting at the time thinking we would find one the next day. I guess we will need to go back to Paris (such a disappointment I know...;)
Between Notre-Dame and the Gardens, we bought some fruit and sandwiches and Chipotle burritos. Don't judge too quickly. Chipotle holds a special place in our hearts and in our defense, we live in the middle of German farmland so good Mexican is not exactly readily available to us.
The main goal of the Luxembourg Gardens was to let the kids run and play
Selfies while waiting for the ladies to visit the restroom.
The kids spent a surprisingly large amount of time sitting here.
And just like that - It is like we never left Korea. Asians still stop and take pictures of our little family.
Every kid wants their own picture.
Attempted family photo.
We made our way to the kids' play area. Totally worth the money to get in. Zachary of course found dirt as soon as we entered and spent nearly 3 hours here
The "Eiffel Tower"
Playing with 'Mil' as Zachary calls her.
This was as high as she dared go at the time
Hazel scaling the structure as well.
Turns out she is a really good climber.
Here she is describing how scared she was. :)
What is so strange to me is how emotional she is all the time and how quickly overwhelmed she can become with life in general - yet when she climbs, she somehow channels all this fear into focus and she scales things with a singular focus and determination. It really is amazing to me. Maybe she will become a world-famous rock climber one day.
This little Merry-Go-Round provided for at least an hour of fun.
The kids would take turns sitting on top, get it spinning, then throwing a stuffed animal (Charlotte's unicorn which she kept trying to pawn off on me but we had a deal at the beginning of the day that if she wanted to bring it she had to carry it the whole day or the unicorn would find a new home in the landfill) at each other. Kids only went flying off a few times. No major injuries to report but lots of fun.
**Pause**
We really had the best weather in the world on this trip. It was a comfortable 60's to low 70's, sunny, and just otherwise perfect. The trees still had their leaves but were starting to change colors. This is in stark contrast to our Japanese vacations where we were rained on the entire week.
Charlotte spent a bit of time on this swing thing that went around in a circle. There was a little French boy there that I wanted to smack in the head with a baguette as he would not share and also would get off early to block the next child with his swing! A bunch of American girls showed up ("From Georgia the state, not the country..." - really?! I would not have guessed by your American accent ;-) and they had a good time.
Once Hazel made it to the top, Charlotte suddenly found the courage to make it up herself. Cannot be outdone by a little sister
We found little Lady Liberty in the park sculpted by the same man who designed America's Lady Liberty. Though, according to the plaque, this is a replica as the prior statue was removed a few years ago to preserve it.
Charlotte stood in front of it with Hazel, asked for a picture, and declared "Yell FREEDOM on three! One, two, three..." - Silence - Then Hazel squeaked out/mumbled "America" while Charlotte sat in silence. So funny these two.
On our way home we stopped by the Pantheon which serves some governmental purpose.
Zach was not having it. He was ready for food.
There it is again! The Eiffel Tower. Charlotte was excited.
Turkish food has become so common in Europe that you cannot go too far without findings one.
We ate this stuff in Korea as well but one thing is for sure, the bread is way better here
To close out the night I made a quick dash to the local grocery store looking for ice cream. Struck out but I did find some yogurt/jello/pudding things that were chocolate flavor which was enjoyed by the ladies.
Not so much by Zachary, though he could have been fatigued.
What a successful day! Again, compared to Japan where we were rained on continuously I can hardly ask for a better day.
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