Paris Days Five – Six: Stained Glass Windows, Block Blast, and the Mona Lisa

Before we knew it, another day had dawned!

Day Five (Thursday)

It was another early morning.

We had tickets for Notre-Dame de Paris at 9:30 am. Entry is free, but you can book skip-the-line tickets online two days ahead of any visit. We chose that option and literally got to walk immediately inside.

The basilica was beautiful. It’s hard to believe Notre Dame has been standing in various forms for almost 1,000 years, and even more incredible to think that just a few years ago, a large portion of it was impacted by a devastating fire. When John and I visited back in 2019, we weren’t able to get inside (or even close to the exterior) because of restoration work, so this was our first time really “seeing” it as well!

I don’t recognize much of the symbolism in Catholic places of worship, but I was moved by a carving of Thomas touching Christ’s side. I have just been reading about this story in my Bible and I appreciated the reminder of Jesus’ gentleness and patience with His followers.

We looked for Pointe Zero which is just outside the main doors, but the marker is currently covered up. Bummer. (Not sure why?)

Before leaving the island, we stopped at Amorino for some ice cream. I enjoyed mine, but it was pricey, and John wasn’t thrilled with his flavours – they were all rather bland. So, while it’s iconic, it wasn’t a particularly memorable experience for us.

In case we hadn’t had enough sugar for the morning, we stopped at Manteigaria, a Portuguese bakery. The pasteis de nata were delicious, and if you’re ever in Paris and craving an authentic Portuguese experience, I highly recommend stopping by for one of these classic custard tarts. Chef’s kiss. Bonus, the ceiling is mirrored!

We had timed tickets for 12:30 pm at Sainte-Chapelle so wanted to stay in the general area of Île de la Cité. We walked to Galerie Vivienne looking for a bathroom; it’s a quaint covered passageway but there were no accessible bathrooms. We did snap another “shoe shot” though!

With still more time to fill, we stopped in at Bibliothèque nationale de France to see the impressive Oval Room. It was stunning – 60-foot ceilings and so much natural light. A readers paradise! I would have loved to curl up with a good book and settle in for a few cozy hours. There are 20,000 books accessible to the general public and 9,000 comics (if that happens to be your thing).

Oh, and I can confirm they have free bathrooms! What a relief for a certain member of our party who apparently drank far too much orange juice before leaving the apartment.

We thought we had left plenty of buffer for our 12:30 pm tickets at Sainte-Chapelle, but when we arrived we couldn’t believe a) the military police presence (so many armed soldiers?!) and b) the lines. But we managed to get in mostly on schedule.

Sainte Chapelle was a royal chapel commissioned by Louis IX in the 1240’s – so this spot is old! – to house purported Passion relics. I’ll admit it was smaller than I expected, but undeniably stunning. There are fifteen giant stained glass windows depicting over 1,000 Biblical scenes, along with an impressive Rose window. Time of day really matters in terms of the viewing experience; I read differing accounts, but the consensus was early-to-mid morning is the best time for a visit and, if possible, go on a sunny day! When the sun hits the stained glass – like it did just before we left – it completely transforms the space.

After finishing up at the chapel, we hopped on the metro and went back to our apartment for a few hours to just…chill. At some point I think we made some sandwiches for an early supper because there were still more adventures in our day!

We had booked evening entry tickets at Musée d’Orsay. This was probably the kids least favourite experience from the whole trip. They were bored and spent most of the time playing games on the phone we use for audiobooks. Whatever, I was fine with that. Taking in Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle (and staying happily engaged) wasn’t too shabby for one day.

Since John and I were enamoured with the art, we compromised and agreed to a shorter-than-expected visit. At one point we left the kids sitting on a central bench while we wandered around them admiring the art and letting them play Block Blast. To each their own.

Bal du moulin de la Galette by Renoir, painted at the Le Moulin de la Galette we visited on Day Two at Montmartre!

There were so many paintings by van Gogh! In general, the Impressionist galleries here are just incredible. (And yes, the kids were on a bench right next to Starry Night Over the Rhône…playing Block Blast.)

I couldn’t stop thinking of Diane when we came to the portion of the museum dedicated to Palais Garnier – the opera house made famous by The Phantom of the Opera. There was a painting of the grand staircase, a scale model (fascinating), and cardboard mockups of opera sets. 

D’Orsay is such a beautiful museum and a lot less overwhelming than the Louvre. We went on a Thursday evening because they have extended opening hours. Children under 18 always have free entry but Thursday evening tickets are cheaper for adults. (And you know I love a deal!)

Day Six (Friday)

Before we left for Paris the only thing on Indy’s radar was how desperately he wanted to visit Musée du Louvre and see the Mona Lisa. We can arrange that, little buddy!

We wanted to go at a time when crowds wouldn’t be too unmanageable – realizing it’s the Louvre so it’s always going to be busy – and figured the kids wouldn’t want any more late evenings. So…we opted for Friday morning and it was great timing. 

I think the kids were more impressed by the building than by anything hanging on the walls. It is massive – 73,000 square meters if you were curious It’s crazy to imagine this was someone’s “house” – well, palace.

They did appreciate seeing the Mona Lisa, agreed they didn’t quite understand the hype but, also, thought it was très fantastique. I mean – IT’S THE MONA LISA.

We skipped Venus de Milo, but I prefer The Winged Victory of Samothrace anyway! This statue (of the goddess of victory Niké) was created about 190 BC. Getting to see things created before Christ’s birth never ceases to blow my mind.

There was a fashion installation concurrent with our visit and I thought it was fascinating to see how they incorporated modern fashion into various cultural contexts.

Since we had opted to skip Versailles, we made sure to tour Napoleon’s apartments for some hints of that palace opulence.

We spent a few hours at the Louvre and that was enough. The kids were free, so we hadn’t spent a fortune to go, we’d explored the main highlights and I wanted to leave while everyone was still happy.

So much leaping. So much. I suppose it’s a miracle we didn’t wind up seeing the inside of a French hospital, but he escaped with nary a scratch.

Right beside the Louvre is Palais Royal and we had fun playing on the black-and-white columns (Colonnes de Buren). We may have gone overboard with pictures but it was such a fun place! Can you tell Indy loved it? He literally could have stayed all day. There is so much more to see – iconic fountains, a cannon “clock”, sprawling gardens – but everyone was hungry, so thoroughly exploring Palais Royal remains on my to-do list for another trip to Paris. (It’s good to have an excuse to go back, right?)

Belle had a hankering for pizza and so we found pizza. She declared it to be “the best pizza I’ve had in my entire life” and I’ll agree it was tasty. John and I had carbonara, and Indy mooched off everyone else. 

I wanted some hot chocolate and a quick Google search suggested Lindt. Well, it was an afternoon of bests because this was without a doubt the best hot chocolate I’ve had in my entire life. It was so creamy and the perfect level of sweetness. It was also the most expensive hot chocolate I’ve ever purchased, ringing in at about €8.50 (that’s ~ $13 CAD!!!). (Just a note that not all Lindt stores in Paris sell hot chocolate; I tried to get one at a different location and was out of luck.)

As if lunch and hot chocolate wasn’t enough to satisfy our tastebuds (though we were putting in a tremendous number of steps each day and often skipping a formal breakfast), we stopped outside Cimetière du Père-Lachaise for one last patisserie hit, before wandering through the most visited cemetery in the world.

Père-Lachaise has about 3.5 million visitors a year – which puts it almost on par with The Empire State building in NYC – and over 1 million people have been buried in this 44-hectare area. (I didn’t realize before going that it’s still an active cemetery; unsurprisingly there are all sorts of rules and regulations about leasing plots in Lachaise.)

We spotted Bugatti’s gravestone and stopped by Chopin’s (his body is buried in Père-Lachaise…minus his heart which was removed and buried in Warsaw). We saw tributes to those lost to the horrors of concentration camps. Oscar Wilde’s gravestone was surrounded by plexiglass that was covered in lipstick prints (yuck), a tree beside Jim Morrison’s grave was covered in chewed gum (gross), and Victor Noir has a brightly polished nether region since it’s purported to bring good luck (um…okay). 

I thought Pere Lachaise was beautiful in its own unique way. Peaceful, yet melancholy; I’m glad we went. 

The kids had been promised an early night so we were back to the apartment by 4:30ish, they put on the TV, ate a giant bowl of cereal for supper (their request), and John and I went to a sushi restaurant around the corner from our apartment. It is a game changer to have a teen who can responsibly watch her younger brother and use my cell phone to communicate back and forth. The sushi was great, the service was quick, and we were home and in bed at a good time. 

Distance Walked (Days 5-6): 27.3 km | 38,138 steps | 34 flights

Your turn.

• Have you ever seen the Mona Lisa? What did you think?
• Do you ever eat breakfast for supper? It’s one of my favourite things to do!