The Louvre, d'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Saint-Chapelle, Versailles, and Notre Dame

As we may have mentioned, our office was closed to celebrate "Ascension Day", a German holiday which falls 40 days after Easter and marks the day Christ ascended into heaven after His Resurrection.  We had a 4-day period were we could leave, visit Paris and attend the temple.  During this time we tried to visit the most famous local sites.  We purchased tickets which took us to all these places.  

The Louvre was beautiful with so many famous paintings it could easily take a couple of days to see everything.  We spent about 3 hours there with all the other tourists and saw many beautiful works of art and left to have a nice lunch in a small Paris restaurant.  And yes we saw Mona Lisa.

Listening to Rick Steves

Venus de Milo

The d'Orsay museum was smaller and easier to get around.  The art was more modern and the tour was much less crowded which made it more enjoyable to visit.

The Eiffel Tower was wonderful.  We only went to the second level, but the view was magnificent.  At night they light it up the first 5 minutes of each hour.  They also have a zip line off the tower.  We watched one fellow go for his ride.

The Saint-Chapelle chapel had some of the most beautiful stained glass we've seen anywhere.  It was a big climb to get to see the beautiful works of art in the stained glass windows, but worth the climb.

Notre Dame is being rebuilt after the terrible fire recently.  We saw the outside from a short distance and snapped a few photos.

On Sunday after attending Church services at the local Versailles Ward, we visited the Versailles Palace and grounds.  It too was beautiful, but very crowded.  This was our last full day in France, so after visiting the Versailles Palace and learning something of the history we went back to our hotel which was also in the town of Versailles to rest for the evening and prepare for departure back to Frankfurt the next morning.

We passed on the Arc de Triomphe due to demonstrations.   We saw other sights as well from the car.  We drove through the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed.

Obelisk of Luxor 

Seine River 

Quai Anatole France

Statue of Liberty

Fountain of River Commerce and Navigation

Arc de Triomphe

We had an interesting time using the trains and subway.  We also did A LOT of walking.

"I love Paris in the spring time, I love Paris in the fall, I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles, I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles.  I love Paris." Cole Porter