Bonsoir Paris

 On our last day we said we were going to take it easy...we were wrong. We started at the Sant Chappell Church. It contains relics of the passion and from Saint Louis. The stained glass was immaculate. I could have spent hours looking at the windows. Each panel told a book of the bible, almost all old testament, Genesis, Deuteronomy, Judges, Job, Esther. I can't imagine the forethought that went into the design. 

From there we walked to the Louvre. The girls were a little less than thrilled to be at ANOTHER museum, but they know it's where the Mona Lisa is displayed. They enjoyed learning about her on the bus tour. She's had a rock thrown at her, acid thrown on her and was even stolen once. The Louvre no longer pays to insure her. Instead they spend the money on security to protect her. What a sight...I know it's something I'll never forget. And we learned that the model was Lisa Gheradini, DaVinci's cousin...we know some Gheradini's. We wonder if they are related?!?! Next up was the Venus de Milo. The girls weren't as familiar, but Kiersten loves to look at sculptures so it was still a treat. 

We made sure to try all sorts of popular French cuisine...by cuisine I mean pastries. We had Pain au Chocolat, Eclairs, Beignets and some amazing macaroons. We wandered over to Notre Dame, and it is such a beautifully intricate structure but unfortunately you can't go in, as it's still under construction from the fire a few years back. 

Last on the girls list was the Square de Vert-Galant, a small green garden on the island of the Seine. We wouldn't have even seen it, or known about it, but the Big Bus Tour told us all about it and how it historically was a place for secret lovers to meet at night. We crossed the "lovers bridge" and made the girls snap a picture of Mitch and I before heading on to the garden. Here we sat for a bit taking in our final moments in Paris. 

By the time the trip was all said and done we walked 119,983 steps and 53.5 miles...in 6 days time!!! We saw so many wonderful sights. And I'm so proud of the girls. They really didn't complain about being tired at all. They were just as excited to see the sights as we were. It was lovely. On our way back to the metro Kiersten said "This all seems like something I'm supposed to see with my future lover, but when we come to Paris I'll say "I saw that when we were living in Spain." I told her if you know someone well enough to go to Paris together, than I sure hope you've told him about your year in Spain. I think these girls are starting to realize just how fortunate they are to have this opportunity. Already counting down to our next trip in 25 days!