July 23 – Mona Lisa, Notre Dame (Our Lady), Saint Louis, and Napoleon

This morning we made use the second day of our museum pass by touring the Italian art in the Louvre museum, the showpiece of which is the Mona Lisa. There was quite a large crowd around the masterpiece. We emerged a bit dazed (“overcome by art” as my Dad would say), ready for lunch!


In the afternoon we toured through the Notre Dame cathedral. Carolyn was particularly taken by some of the relief pictures in the choir section of the cathedral because she could recognize biblical accounts that she has learned. It is still hard for me to conceive of this cathedral (as many sights in Europe do) as predating the Columbus' voyage to the New World.

From the Notre Dame on Ile de Cite, we crossed over to Ile to St. Louis. This is a beautiful, classically Parisian island to explore and enjoy some ice cream (again).

For dinner we were able to finde a fondue restaurant, which was a big hit with Evelyn! Then we topped off the day with views of Paris from the top of the Arch de Triumph. We were fortunate to be on the arch at dusk at the top of the hour when the Eiffel tower sparkles for a few minutes with thousands a lights – a lovely sight. When it rained on us up on the Arch, the girls found this clever shelter :)