Just in case you missed it, my lovely friend Kate asked me to write a guest post as part of her week-long series on Harry Potter. I'm sure you are all quite aware of my Harry Potter obsession. I was more than happy to oblige!
You can read it HERE.
Saturday, July 16
Thursday, July 7
Day 3: Opera Garnier, Sainte-Chapelle, Sacre-Coeur
Welcome to Day 3 in Paris!
After breakfast at our charming hotel, we ventured across town to visit one of our favorite Paris landmarks, Opera Garnier.
Last time I was here, most of the front of the building was covered with scaffolding. It was nice to see it finished and beautiful.
I think I'll let the video and the photos give you an idea of the place, sans commentary...
(Jonathan says I make this face at him a lot.)
As you can see, it is incredibly ornate and detailed, with a fantastic history. And of course, we are both fans of the Phantom of the Opera, so it was fun to wander the halls singing songs from the Broadway musical. :D
At some point in the day, we wandered back to Notre Dame and toured some of Paris's underground ruins. Most of the ruins date back to when the Romans conquered the area and built their city Lutetia around 52 BC, during Caesar's conquest of Gaul. The city would not be renamed "Paris" for another 300+ years.
It was strange to see the archways and staircases and imagine what life would have been like that long ago!
After our tour of the ruins, we walked over to one of my favorite cathedrals in Paris, Sainte-Chapelle.
The stained glass windows are incredible. Half of the windows were undergoing restoration (like most of the old buildings in Paris--restoration is constant), but one half was finished, and the result was amazing.
If you ever visit Paris, take some time to visit Sainte-Chapelle. The pictures and video really don't do it justice.
Late in the afternoon, we took the metro over to Montmartre and began the climb up to what would be Jonathan's favorite site in Paris: the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.
The picture doesn't show it, but Sacre-Coeur sits at the top of a huge hill. You can take a tram to the top, but we decided to walk the long path and stairs to the top. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the parks and stairs surrounding Sacre-Coeur were packed with tourists and families enjoying the sunshine.
Sacre-Coeur has such interesting architecture and detail. And if you buy a ticket to go to the top, you get to walk all around the outside of the basilica, which has great views of the city.
Like I said, Jonathan LOVED this place. It was his favorite thing that we did in Paris. I think the second video might give you an idea of why he liked it so much. The first video is mostly just to give you an idea of how many stairs we climbed to get to the top.
After conquering Sacre-Coeur, we were hungry, so we used our nifty guidebook to find a delicious Moroccan restaurant.
Believe it or not, these dishes are all of our appetizers. We thought we would just pick one or two, but our waiter explained that we would get to try all of them. I can't even remember what each dish was, but it was very colorful and delicious!
After the appetizers, it was time for the main course... cous cous, ratatouille, and meat! My mouth is watering just thinking about how good this meal tasted.
I had lamb, and I think Jonathan had beef... but I can't remember for sure.
After we had eaten our fill of cous cous (there was still SO MUCH left over... this was by far the biggest meal we ate in France), it was time for dessert, Moroccan style.
Mine was some kind of layered pastry--crispy wafers with a sort of creamy pudding. Jonathan got an assortment of more traditional Moroccan pastries. Both were different than anything we had had before, but still tasty!
On our walk back to our hotel room after a long day, we stopped to take a few pictures in front of the Saint-Michel fountain.
After putting this post together, I can clearly remember how tired we were after all of this! I think that's how we slept on our rock hard bed each night... we tired ourselves out having adventures all day.
Stay tuned for Day 4, our last full day in Paris. After that, it's on to the countryside!
After breakfast at our charming hotel, we ventured across town to visit one of our favorite Paris landmarks, Opera Garnier.
Last time I was here, most of the front of the building was covered with scaffolding. It was nice to see it finished and beautiful.
I think I'll let the video and the photos give you an idea of the place, sans commentary...
(Jonathan says I make this face at him a lot.)
As you can see, it is incredibly ornate and detailed, with a fantastic history. And of course, we are both fans of the Phantom of the Opera, so it was fun to wander the halls singing songs from the Broadway musical. :D
At some point in the day, we wandered back to Notre Dame and toured some of Paris's underground ruins. Most of the ruins date back to when the Romans conquered the area and built their city Lutetia around 52 BC, during Caesar's conquest of Gaul. The city would not be renamed "Paris" for another 300+ years.
It was strange to see the archways and staircases and imagine what life would have been like that long ago!
After our tour of the ruins, we walked over to one of my favorite cathedrals in Paris, Sainte-Chapelle.
The stained glass windows are incredible. Half of the windows were undergoing restoration (like most of the old buildings in Paris--restoration is constant), but one half was finished, and the result was amazing.
If you ever visit Paris, take some time to visit Sainte-Chapelle. The pictures and video really don't do it justice.
Late in the afternoon, we took the metro over to Montmartre and began the climb up to what would be Jonathan's favorite site in Paris: the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.
The picture doesn't show it, but Sacre-Coeur sits at the top of a huge hill. You can take a tram to the top, but we decided to walk the long path and stairs to the top. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the parks and stairs surrounding Sacre-Coeur were packed with tourists and families enjoying the sunshine.
Sacre-Coeur has such interesting architecture and detail. And if you buy a ticket to go to the top, you get to walk all around the outside of the basilica, which has great views of the city.
Like I said, Jonathan LOVED this place. It was his favorite thing that we did in Paris. I think the second video might give you an idea of why he liked it so much. The first video is mostly just to give you an idea of how many stairs we climbed to get to the top.
After conquering Sacre-Coeur, we were hungry, so we used our nifty guidebook to find a delicious Moroccan restaurant.
Believe it or not, these dishes are all of our appetizers. We thought we would just pick one or two, but our waiter explained that we would get to try all of them. I can't even remember what each dish was, but it was very colorful and delicious!
After the appetizers, it was time for the main course... cous cous, ratatouille, and meat! My mouth is watering just thinking about how good this meal tasted.
I had lamb, and I think Jonathan had beef... but I can't remember for sure.
After we had eaten our fill of cous cous (there was still SO MUCH left over... this was by far the biggest meal we ate in France), it was time for dessert, Moroccan style.
Mine was some kind of layered pastry--crispy wafers with a sort of creamy pudding. Jonathan got an assortment of more traditional Moroccan pastries. Both were different than anything we had had before, but still tasty!
On our walk back to our hotel room after a long day, we stopped to take a few pictures in front of the Saint-Michel fountain.
After putting this post together, I can clearly remember how tired we were after all of this! I think that's how we slept on our rock hard bed each night... we tired ourselves out having adventures all day.
Stay tuned for Day 4, our last full day in Paris. After that, it's on to the countryside!
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