"Eiffel" in "Louvre" with Paris (Part 3): The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sainte Chapelle, and more!!

- Dec. 18, 2017, Monday.

- Our first two days in Paris (click for Part 1 here and Part 2 here) though jam-packed, I felt they were still generally teasers to the wonders of what people call the "City of Love and Romance." As with the past two days, we started our day in Paris still without the sun rising. The temperature in Paris during our trip, by the way, was somewhere around 4 to 7 degrees.

- On our third day - as usual, before sunrise - we rode the train to Louvre metro station (1st arrondissement) to visit none other than the world-renowned Louvre Museum (Musee du Louvre.) Today, the Louvre is known as the museum that houses Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, among other famous artworks. However, the building where the museum is in right now was once a palace that was first built in the 12th century. The palace had a series of expansions in the next centuries until it was decided to turn the palace into a museum in the 1700s after the Palace of Versailles was made into the main palace (click here to see my trip to the Palace of Versailles.)

FINALLY. IT'S YOU. (The pyramids, by the way, were added in the late 1800s.)

Tito of Paris.

Details, details.

Good morning Mr. Sun!!

Inside the big pyramid (it's the museum entrance by the way.)

On the way to see the Mona Lisa!!

- We arrived at the museum just an hour before opening. Fortunately, we were able to book our 9am ticket beforehand, so we were able to directly go to the museum entrance queue. Of course, the main reason for going there early is to see the Mona Lisa with as little crowd as possible. Thankfully, there are helpful signs/arrows that point to the gallery where the Mona Lisa was. As it was a former palace, the museum was huge, and it was still easy to gest lost even with a map. I finally found the Mona Lisa, took some snaps, and gazed at the medium-sized portrait for a few minutes. The fine layers of color, I think, are more apparent when seen in person, even with the glass frame. By the way, the Mona Lisa is in the Denon wing of the museum. Once you go down the basement, go to the right side (or you know, it's always a good idea to run to the nearest information booth, also at the basement level, and ask for more specific directions.) Just a reminder, DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR TICKET AFTER ENTERING. Sometimes, other galleries will need to see and scan your ticket again, so don't lost it!!

There you are!!

See the crowd?? This is considered a very small crowd (and it was actually easy to wiggle my way around the people.) If you go there in the middle of the day....GOOD LUCK!!

Mandatory photo with the painting. There was a barricade so we couldn't go very near the painting.

- After seeing the Mona Lisa, I went around the museum to make my way to the Richelieu wing to see the second most important thing that I wanted to see in the Louvre: the original code of Hammurabi slab. I was able to see a replica of it at the National Museum of Natural History (click here to see) in New York and at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., but I've always wanted to see this particular slab of stone in the Louvre. This slab, or more formally, "stele," contains the laws of the Babylonians and was written by the Babylonian king Hammurabi. One of its laws is "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." The Code of Hammurabi is currently in the Near Eastern Antiquities gallery.

When a student nags me for bonus points.

Flags of France.

Winged Victory of Samothrace., probably from 2nd century BCE!! It's one of my favorite sculptures ever!!

View from the window.

One of my favorite halls in the museum!! It had full of royal treasures!!

I want the crown.

Aphrodite of Milos, from around 1st century BCE!!.

There was a ton of Egyptian art too.

When I read subpar essays/papers submitted to me by my students.

French sculptures; on the way to the Near-Eastern Antiquities gallery.

Ceres, I think.

THE CODE. OF. HAMMURABIIIIIIII (THE ORIGINAL!!!! OMGGGG.)

As a history teacher, it is always an ecstatic experience to see something you teach in class face to face.

Cuneiform.

- We went around a bit more until we decided to have lunch. It was impossible to go around the museum in a day (unless if you're like me who can absorb/process information at an incredible speed,) and I hope I'll get to go back to Paris again some day.

I am in love with ancient Mesopotamian art.

Lion.

Don't miss the inverted pyramid at the mall underneath the museum!! (Yes, the tips of the two pyramids aren't aligned.)

Facing the Garden of Tuileries. (See the Eiffel Tower at the back??)

- We had lunch at the mall underneath the museum, and made our way to "Ile de la Cite," probably the most famous island along the Seine River. The island is shared between the 1st and 4th arrondissements. On the way, we passed by Pont des Arts, which used to be the bridge where people attach love locks. Now, the locks were relocated, and the bridge does not have railings anymore where people can attach locks.

Seine River.

Some love locks.

This is where the love locks were relocated.

I am blinded.

- Upon arriving on the small island, we first visited Sainte Chapelle (Holy Chapel,) which is an often-ignored Gothic church (compared to the more famous ones like the nearby Notre Dame) beside the Hall of Justice. This 13th-century chapel is one of the nicest and most colorful churches I've seen in Paris because of all its stained glass windows and brocade-like wall and ceiling colors.

Doesn't look much from the outside.

Interior of the "lobby" of the church.

The actual chapel is at the second floor.

Look at all those colorful windows!!

I found this lock funny.

Hall of Justice beside the church.

"Liberte, egalite, fraternite." - The national motto of France.

- A block away Sainte Chapelle is one of the world's most familiar church - the Notre Dame Cathedral of the 4th arrondissement. This medieval Gothic church was built in the 1100s, and finished in the 1300s (so that's around 200 years!!)

Orange will forever be my color. (Also, I can't remove my hat the whole day because the hat gave my hair a weird shape.)

If only we had more time, I would've wanted to see the flying buttress of the church's back. It's one of the first churches to use this kind of architecture.)

Gothic architecture will always be one of my favorites.

- When I saw the church, as with many people, I remembered The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and wondered if someone lived in the hidden rooms of the church (with friendly talking gargoyles; yes the Disney one stuck with me the most.) When I went inside, it was no less than spectacular.

Christmasy.

It ain't exactly a Christmas village, but it looks nice to see a little quite village inside the church.

It was constructed in 1163.

Swirls.

Carvings everywhere.

- Although both Sainte Chapelle and the Notre Dame are close to the Cite metro station, we decided to walk north to see Paris' city hall, also known as Hotel de Ville. This building, originally built in the mid-1300s, was built in the neo-renaissance style; I sometimes call this style the "haunted house" style since a lot of haunted houses are drawn or depicted with this architectural style. Nevertheless, I find this style charming - as long as the building is not haunted.

I have a reasons why I call this architectural style the "haunted house" style.

Stil lcan't remove my beret because of my strangely-shaped hair....thanks to my beret.

- After having an afternoon snack in one of the restaurants nearby, we rode the train from Hotel de Ville metro station to Bastille metro station. This plaza used to be a prison, but was destroyed by civilians in the late 1700s as a protest against the government (today this charging is known as "Bastille Day.") The July Column that stands in the middle of the plaza/roundabout today was made in the 1800s in honor of the July Revolution of 1830, which is another protest against the government.

Too bad the column was being renovated.

- From there we walked around the area, still in the 4th arrondissement, and passed by Victor Hugo's old house in Place de Vosges (Maison Victor Hugo.) Since it was a Monday, the house/museum was not open. Well, it was just an additional thing in my itinerary, but I decided to pass by since it was on the way to the other places we'd like to see in the 4th arrondissement.

Maison Victor Hugo from the outside. He lived here for 16 years in the mid-1800s. Victor Hugo, a writer, was known for his works like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables.

- My family and I had an early dinner nearby, and proceeded to see Hotel de Sully. Be careful: there are two Hotel Sullys. The first one is an actual hotel (where people can check in and stay,) and this is NOT the Hotel Sully you want to see unless you are checking in at this hotel. The actual Hotel Sully is a few steps beside the first Hotel Sully. The real Hotel Sully was a private estate in the 1600s, and after a few centuries, became the home of the French government's Center for National Monuments. However, parts of the building are still accessible. Since we arrived quite late, we weren't able to go inside anymore. However, going there at night gave the estate a creepy feeling because of its general appearance and ambiance. I am not saying it is haunted, but it does remind me a lot of the house in the movie "Monster House." Despite this, I am very sure that it will have a "tamer" ambiance during the day, and from the photos and videos that I have seen prior to going to Paris, having the opportunity to go inside and see some of the rooms of this "mansion" is surely worth it.

This is the REAL Hotel de Sully.

Charming mansion.

Haunted house feels, but don't worry. It isn't as scary as it seems.

- We went back to our hotel after visiting Hotel de Sully by riding the metro at the Saint-Paul metro station. (The charming Saint Paul's church is just above the metro.) It was quite a long train ride to the 7th arrondissement, where our hotel was, but at least we were able to get some rest from walking a lot in the evening.

17th-century Eglise de Saint-Paul (and the metro station is just in front of it.)

- Back at the hotel, I had to prepare all my things for the day after. Since the day after was a wildcard day (i.e. a free day on our own, individually or otherwise, where we can go anywhere) the possibilities just seemed endless! Knowing me, of course, the most important thing of the day would be my most-awaited costumed photoshoot!!

- Don't forget to read about my other Eurotrip adventures during the holidays here:

France: Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 4 here!!

Italy: Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here, Part 8 here, and Part 9 here!!