After grabbing take-out breakfast from a pastry place across the street and eating back in the apartment, we got launched on our touring day a little after 9:00. Dubbs had been in contact with her insurance folks, and they said she could get crutches to help with her twisted knee at any pharmacy around. Happily, we saw one down the street when we came out of the apartment, so we got her mobile with a single cane-crutch (a cane with an arm extension for stability). With Dubbs mobile again, we hit the Metro (subway), where we bought a six-day pass. Mer and I like those passes because then we never have to think about jumping on a subway.

The first stop of the day was the Louvre, maybe the best art museum in the world. Dubbs wanted to visit twice, once to see Greek and Roman statues, and once to see paintings. Today was to be the statues. We entered the Louvre, not through the famous glass pyramid entrance, but through the Metro entrance underground. It was impressive — there is a huge underground high-end mall, then the main reception area of the Louvre. We went to stash our stuff in a storage locker, when a Louvre staff member came over to Dubbs and led her over to a locker for those with handicaps. For free. Yay for the cane!

We walked over to the Greek wing, but there were staff members there turning people away. We figured something was wrong, and turned around to go to another escalator, but that one was blocked by staff too. We saw one in use and started that way, when an announcement came over the PA system telling all guests to please leave by the nearest exit. No explanation why. We went to get our stuff, and we left by the glass pyramid exit. We decided that since we did not know what was going on, or how long it would last, we should go to Plan B, which was to head over to the Isle de la Cite via the Metro, to go visit Notre Dame.

We got off the Metro on the island in the Seine that makes up the Cite, and Meredith noticed that Sainte Chapelle was nearby. Sainte Chapelle was a private chapel constructed by King Loius IX, who built it to house some Christian relics that he had bought from the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, especially the crown of thorns that was put on Christ’s head. Sainte Chapelle is considered one of the finest Gothic period buildings, and is very beautiful. So, we decided to go see that first before heading over to Notre Dame.

Our guide book was not wrong. We entered the first floor, which is where the servants worshiped, and even this level was impressive. It had vaulted ceilings that were used to support the chapel above, and very fine decorations in the red, white, and gold colors of St. Louis (Louis IX). There is also a statue of St. Louis at the far end of the chapel that is considered a decent likeness of the king. We wandered up the servants’ stairs (a narrow spiral staircase) to the king’s chapel. Coming up a spiral staircase was actually a good thing as it persevered the view of the chapel for an all-at-once reveal. And what a reveal it was — I have never seen anything like the inside of the place. There are huge stained glass windows everywhere, to the extent that there is more surface area of stained glass than actually stonework holding the building up. It seems the Gothic architects were excellent at pushing weight load to specific spots, so it allowed for huge open areas for glass. The result is spectacular. The windows not only take up most of the wall, but are also about sixty feet tall, and have vibrant colors. The front altar is tiered, with a canopy that covered the relics, which are no longer there (some were lost in the Revolution, and the crown of thorns went to Notre Dame); however, the altar is still impressive. The full result is a grand mixture of awe-inspiring visuals with a very clean and simple church. We had audioguides that explained about the church and the windows, and so we spent over an hour there.

We then wandered over to Notre Dame, mostly to see the inside of the church. We wandered around the perimeter of the inside of the church, checking out the various small chapels and some of the artwork. Once we made a circuit, Mer and I decided we wanted to do the tower tour, on which Dubbs passed, since it involved many stairs. She decided to visit the small gift shop, and then said if we were not back, she would be sitting in the main section of the church, praying.

Mer and I went outside to get in the line for the tower tour. We got a snack from a local crepe stand, mostly to break a fifty-euro bill. For some reason, ATMs in Europe always dispense fifties, which are about as welcome here as fifties are back home — a lot of money to hand over for a two-euro purchase. It started to rain a little, which let us take delight in the “drooling” gargoyles of Notre Dame; when it rains lightly, the various rain-spout gargoyles look as if they are drooling. We find that pretty amusing. After about twenty minutes, the line had moved very little, and so we gave up on the tower tour. We went back inside to find Dubbs, and when we did not find her right away, we sat up at the front of the church to pray a little. We then got up, and Dubbs saw us. She told us she got to chatting with some young missionaries from England, and they prayed for her knee to heal, which was very kind.

It was then time for lunch, despite the crepe Meredith and I had eaten thirty minutes before. Dubbs had not eaten, so we took her back to where we had gotten the crepes, and we went inside the attached restaurant, where we ate and rested for the better part of an hour. During that time, we decided to try the Louvre again, figuring it could not still be closed.

We were right. We went back in through the same Metro/mall station, and we stored our stuff in a free handicapped locker, again thanks to Dubbs’ cane. We set off for the Greek sculpture gallery, and this time we got in.

The Louvre is ridiculously huge. It was originally a palace, so in addition to the art housed there now, the building itself is beautiful to see. Almost every ceiling is painted elaborately, and many of the hallways stretch on for long distances, allowing you to see the architectural harmony. Dubbs had our visit planned out to see specific works, as well as anything we happened to see along the way. As such, she took us to see the sculpture Winged Victory, and the Venus de Milo, and a statue of Aphrodite, as well as one of a huge woman representing the muse of tragedy. We swung by to see the Mona Lisa, just to make sure I saw it, since it was my first visit to the Louvre. It was mobbed with people, but I got a fairly good look at it. We saw a famous painting of St. Sebastian, and we finished the quick tour with seeing the Italian sculpture of Cupid and Psyche (a famous one of them about to kiss).

That took us about two hours, and we were meeting a former student, Grace, for supper over by the Eiffel Tower, so we had to go. It took us a little longer than expected, since we had to change three trains to get there, but we found her waiting for us, around 6:20 pm. She took us to a small restaurant a couple of blocks away, on a road with a spectacular view of the tower. We ate a leisurely meal, and then headed back to see if we could go up in the tower itself. There was a slight wait, and it was already after 8:00, so Grace excused herself; she had to work the next day. We pressed on, and it turns out we all were going on separate tours of the tower. I am scared of heights, so I did not want to go higher than the first level (about 300 feet up). Dubbs wanted to go up to the top, but anyone with a cane is not allowed to go higher than the second level (about 490 feet). Mer wanted to go to the top (about 1,010 feet). That is pretty much what happened. I toured the first level, which has some information on how the tower was built, as well as some glass floors for thrill seekers, that I studiously avoided. Dubbs and Mer did the second floor together, and then Mer went up while Dubbs came back down to the first floor. I was already on the ground at that point. Mer said the top was thrilling, but very cold in the windy evening. Meanwhile, I got to see the tower light show at the top of the hour (10:00). We all met back up at the bottom.

It was sufficiently late that we decided to take a taxi back to the apartment. That got us back home a little after 10:30. I have a pedometer on my watch, and we had put in 20,300 steps, which is about 10.1 miles walked. We were a tad tired, and went to bed pretty quickly.