We have adopted to French life quite quickly. No we haven't gone on strike or taken up smoking. I was referring to our slow starts to the day. It was well after 11 when we left the apartment and headed to nirvana for cafe and pastries. Amazingly we actually ate a proper breakfast there today as well.
After breakfast we got right into it. Today's first stop was none other then the fabled Catacombes. This is one of the more morbid places to see on your visit to Paris. In 1786 the Parisians had a problem on their hands. The city cemetery in Les Halles was deemed unsanitary and they needed to move millions of skulls and bones. They were moved into the empty underground quarries that were formed by excavations at the base of three Paris mountains. It took them 15 months to move the skeletons and rotting bodies to what is now the Catacombes. It has had other uses over the years well. Apparently Charles X use to throw wicked parties there, and the French Resistance set up shop in the caves during World War II.
It takes about 45 minutes to walk the length of the Catacombes.
The piles of bones go back 10 to 20 feet at some spots.
Bronwyn anxiously looking for a "Frog in the Catacombe Well".
All of those bones made us hungry so we headed out for our first steak and frites. Bronwyn was happy to have left the bones behind.
Fintan, AKA Meat-boy took down his steak and half of mine.
We had missed the chance to walk up the 387 steps to the top of the towers at Notre-Dame yesterday, so after lunch we hoofed it over to Ile de la Cite to the Cathedral. Stacey opted out, so the kids and I got focused and made the climb. We were not disappointed. The legendary Gargoyles and city views were awesome.
He is either deep in thought or bored, I'm not sure.
This attentive fella has a nice view of the Eiffel Tower, or Eiffy as Fin calls it now.
This mean looking dude looks down to the plaza in front of the cathedral.
He has a pretty good view too.
This hyper little fella is ready to pounce. Don't make any quick movements.
There are some awesome city views from the top.
It was getting dark as we were leaving Notre-Dame, so we hoped on the Metro and made our way to the main courtyard of the Musee du Louvre. The cool thing about the main courtyard is the stark contrast between the 1190 built fortress (which is now one of the world's most famous museums) and I M Pei's glass pyramid entrance (1989).
Underneath the courtyard is a sprawling complex of shops, restaurants & parking.
Facing the courtyard is a smaller Arc, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (1805).
Napoleon has this built to celebrate his victories.
After a great dinner we walked down the south side of the Champs-Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe to the giant ferris wheel. Along the way we checked out the many vendors selling holiday gifts and treats.
The kids took down the meanest looking roller coaster on the Champs-Elysees.
This guy was crazy. He was blaring angry German heavy metal music while he ran around picking up various chainsaws and angrily swiped at a block of wood. It was probably -6C and this dude was sporting a tank top. At one point he came running at the on-looking crowd with a chainsaw in his hands. I wasn't convinced that he was going to stop.
We ended the day with a trip to the last vendor on the block who makes a mean Nutella Waffle, but is pretty skimpy dishing out the plastic forks and napkins.
