One place I hadn't been was the St-Germain-des-Prés church, which was founded in the 6th century. It was a very pretty, and very quiet (compared to other churches in Paris) space.
A beautiful sculpture of Madonna and Child in the church. I just love Mary's expression.
This is the building of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
The whole group in front of Notre Dame:
Saint Chapelle:
And the Arc de Triomphe. Surprisingly, I had never been to the top before.
We didn't have to climb the stairs because we had Sophie, and the elevator had a glass ceiling, but all you could see was this: (It was a little creepy.)
At the top:
You can just barely see the Eiffel Tower behind Sophie:
Sacre Couer on the hill in the background:
And one of my favorite things about this trip was this guy who was playing with a crystal ball on the street. He reminded me of the Goblin King in Labyrinth!
2 comments:
Seen all of Paris?!
Have you been to the Musée des Arts et Métiers yet? It's really cool, and there are a few interactive exhibits that might interest Sophie. As far as other non-Louvre non-D'Orsay museums go, Cluny and Rodin are good (actually I've only been in the garden at the Musée Rodin, but in nice weather it will be lovely). The Catacombs are also cool but probably too scary for Sophie.
Favorite places to walk include the Place des Vosges in the Marais (tasty bagels available in the Jewish bakeries in this area) and the Jardins du Palais Royal. Both of these places always have tons of kids running around them. (Also in the jardins du palais royal there is some amazing, crazy expensive vintage shopping--I went in one shop just to poke around, even though it's the kind of store where you have to buzz to get in, and the man in there assumed I spoke no French and went back to his telephone conversation in which he discussed in great detail his sexual exploits. The only line I remember was "Oh, PHILIPPE!" But anyway, good for window shopping...)
If you have nice weather on your next trip, Versailles is always worth a day trip if you haven't been there yet. The gardens and the galerie des glaces will probably by fun for Sophie, too.
Patrice once told me that the science museum way out in Parc de la Villette is his favorite place in Paris. I've never been there because the metro ride always ends up being like an hour from where I am, but it's worth a look.
And if you're looking for delicious food, Au Lyonnais in the 2nd and Le Beurre Noisette in the 15th are both excellent. You would certainly need a reservation at Au Lyonnais to get a table, and probably at Le Beurre Noisette also.
OK, well, voilà tout. I'd better go to work now.
Looks like we really missed out by not seeing Saint Chapelle!! It's beautiful.
I didn't know you could go up into or on top of the Arc de Triomphe?!?! Was it closed off on New Years? Traffic was pretty busy that day, it may not have been safe to cross the road, but I wish we could have see that too. Guess we will just have to go back!!
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