TRAVEL JOURNAL: THE VINTAGE ADVENTURE, PARIS PART II

Our time in Paris was a whirlwind! In addition to shopping, we visited so many museums, monuments, churches, areas, you name it. In fact, we felt like we needed a vacation from our vacation. But, this was our chance to show the kids this incredible city. So, we put our comfy shoes on and hit the town. 

The Musée d'Orsay is in the old Paris-Orleans train station. This was our first museum and a reality check that our fifth and seventh graders were going to be exposed to a lot of unclothed body parts. Kind of like a health and science class. After some initial blushing, we carried on.   

Next up was the sunset River Cruise on the Seine. This was one of our favorites as we saw so many beautiful sites of Paris and heard amazing historic information about each we passed. It ended at the Eiffel tower at night with a glistening light show. Just spectacular!  

Sainte-Chapelle is a royal medieval Gothic chapel, located near the Palais de la Cité, on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris. Its' stained glass windows depict the full biblical story starting with Genesis. The interior beauty of this church was overwhelming.

The  Louvre Museum was mind boggling in its size and the amount of art it holds. It's a whopping 652,000 square feet filled with everything from the Mona Lisa to the Egyptian Sphinx. It was hard to believe it was once an actual Palace. 

Les Catacombes was certainly the most bizarre, creepy and most interesting place we visited. Our museum pass did not work there so we waited in the three hour line, but it was well worth the wait (especially since there was shopping close by during the wait). It's completely underground and took about an hour and half to go through it. The rituals of these Catacombes are hard to understand but completely breathtaking and haunting.       

La Basilique du Sacré Cœur sits at the top of the highest peak in Paris with views of the city like no other. We heard that the term and concept of the "bistro" was born in the streets below by artists that lived in the area of this amazing chapel.  

Arc de Triomphe provided one of the best place to get panoramic shots since it's located in the middle of the city. However, you had to climb 284 spiral steps to get there. 

And then there's the Eiffel Tower. No words needed. 

The Centre Pompidou is the Modern Art Museum. It was absolutely our favorite of all the museums. There were so many interactive exhibits for the kids and us to explore. It was so exciting to come around the corner of the Parisian buildings and see this over the top exterior. We knew we were in for a real treat!   

Our European vacation schedule was determined by a family meeting, structured on a white board, and took a huge amount of research. It would not have happened without the determination of my amazing and generous husband. I thank him from the bottom of my heart for making this trip a reality! We spent three weeks together as a family exploring and treasure hunting, brought back fabulous pieces to share with our customers, and gave our children a chance to see there is a much bigger world out there filled with fascinating culture and things that dreams are made of!

Our overall thanks goes to God for the many opportunities he has provided and continues to provide us!