Wells World Travelers: Les Musées de Paris

Sorry, time to get caught up again. I think after reading about the next couple days you will understand why we were tired after reurning home each night.

Wednesday we got the Paris museum pass with is good for 2 days and is a good deal if you plan on trying to museum hop to a bunch of different museums. Since we are not art afficianados and are happy with seeing the bits we want to see it was perfect.

We started at the Notre Dame which is free to go into but we entered the crypts below which showed what the buildings and infrastructure were in the area below present day Ile de la Cité. We decided to skip the hike up to top of Notre Dame due to the wait and already aching feet from yesterday.

Then we walked across a bridge to a separate island with a promise that there lies the Best Ice Cream in the World. Luckily in no time at all we found it. It is called Berthillon and it is heaven in a cup. Mmmm!

(Don't mind the garbage can in this otherwise cute shot =)

As we enjoyed our le glace alongside the Seine River we even had a gentleman serenading us on the accordion. It was perfect, so we made sure to drop some coins in his cup.

Then we walked along Saint Germain street which is a much cleaner and less tourist infested area of Paris. This is in the 5th Arrondisment and I made a mental note that if I were to come back and stay in the city I would look here first.

Then we went to the Pantheon which has beautiful architecture and also houses the tombs of Voltaire, Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, and Braille.

Then we headed to Luxembourg Gardens for some fun for Ally. It was on our way that we saw our first McDonalds. Although it is supposed to be much healthier than in the states we just couldn't do it.

Luxemburg Gardens has something for everyone.

I was excited that we were going to make it just in time for the Marionette Show. Of course it is right next to the fanciest playground and Ally wanted to skip the show. At first it irritated me because I arranged our whole schedule so she could see the show that is only shown on Wed afternoons during the week but I couldn't blame her, the park did look like fun. It was about 4€ for the enclosed park but they had some really fun features.

The highlight was a zipline circuit which is perfectly made to allow 5 kids to be going at a time. Nothing like it exists in Sacramento. She had a blast.

Then she climbed to the top of the rope Eiffel Tower.

And through the obstacles of slides and tunnels.

You can also rent these little sail boats that come with sticks to push them away from the edges.

We had a lovely break and then it was off to the Louvre. But first we stopped at L'orangerie which houses the murals of water lily paintings by Monet. No photography was allowed so I couldn't share how beautiful they were.

Then we got to admire the Place du Concorde with views to L'arc de Triumph and Eiffel Tower

We took a long walk through the Les Tuileries Gardens to the Louvre. I tried to take a picture of Eric peeing in the fountain but it ended up looking like it was coming out of his belly button. Oh well, I tried.

Here were some fun places in the gardens along the way.

Finally we get to the Louvre and we get inside and are so overwhelmed with the building we didn't know what to do first. So we went to get some food first :)

Okay, now we are ready to attack the 8 miles of museum halls. You think I am kidding? We are realistic so we planned out where our interests lie and made our plan of attack.

First were the Egyptians