lizzie + doug: The Girls Paris Trip: It just keeps getting better! (Day 3)

Jennifer and I decided we wanted to go to Church in Notre Dame. It is not like I have this option any given day! We woke up early and headed to 8 am mass. When we arrived we headed to the front and Jennifer let me choose the seat. We sat in the 3rd or 4th row (do it big or go home!)
and proceeded to pray for the entire mass. It was great to attend mass at Notre Dame even if we had no idea what the priest said during the homily. :)

After mass, Jennifer joined me on my official tour of Notre Dame. I even went to confession with an English speaking priest. It was a very holy morning. As we were about to exit, another mass was beginning. It was the Gregorian Chanting mass with lots of incense.

We exited church and met up with the group! In the square in front of Notre Dame was the “center of Paris” .(Kilometre Zero of French national highways. It is located considered the official center of the city of Paris.),

The ladies wanted to take a boat tour on the Seine, but as I am not a big fan of boats, places with out bathrooms, or places where I feel trapped (oh man, I am crazy!), I passed on the boat ride and went to get lost alone in Paris. Seems safe, right? Sure!

As they loaded on the boat I started walking and noticed a bridge covered in locks. I walked across it and admired the “art” of the bridge décor. I later learned the locks are called “love padlocks” and are affixed to gates, bridges or fences by sweethearts.

While I was on the bridge, I realized I could see the boat the ladies were on and it was going to come right under the bridge I was on! There they were and here they come…

See them all! I especially like the guy in the front row waiving at me…

As their boat sailed away, I walked off the bridge, purchased some street art from a nice gentleman and found myself next to a church. I explored the church (and it’s terrible organ) and then found myself in a huge courtyard.

The terrible organ (be prepared, it is pretty bad):

Paris Girls Trip

I had no idea where I was. Can you figure it out? I walked toward the fountain and through those archways I saw the glass pyramid. I WAS AT THE LOUVRE! I got lost and ended up at the Louvre. Typical.

I headed back across the Seine and got very lost on the streets of Paris. I ended up behind some huge state building, found an amazing pastry shop and slowly found my way back to the dock. I arrived as the ladies were getting off the boat. They reported it was a great ride, but very chilly.

We headed towards Musee d’Orsay for lunch and Museum time.
We ate lunch in a room fit for a queen (or 7 queens…)The Museum was very neat. I have to say that I am not a huge museum fan, but I am glad I went. While we were there there was actually a bomb scare. They cleared out a section of the museum because they found an unattended bag. Everything was fine, but it was enough to make me ready to head to the next stop.

We started the hike towards the Rodin Museum to meet up with Nathalie. We walked in front of a huge line again (thank you, Museum Passes) and I (of course) got the audio tour. The gardens and house were quite impressive.

I was most enthralled with the “Gates of Hell” and “The Thinker”…

Our next stop was drinks with Nathalie, but as we passed the L’Hotel national des Invalides I asked if we could stop in. It was very close to closing time and they lets us it. We made a quick visit of it. The main attraction for me was the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Check out the sheer size of his tomb. I went into the crypt level and took a picture of the girls looking down at me and they took one of me from the level they were on.

We headed to La Terrasse for drinks with Nathalie…
caught the bus and went to La Gueuze for dinner (and beer).

At one point we all lost it in a fit of giggles…

We finally composed ourselves and started our long walk back to the apartment. We walked in front of Notre Dame (yay!) and took this cute photo:
This was seriously my favorite place in Paris!