Paris Day 2 (Pt 1): Churches! (Notre Dame & Towers, Ste Chapelle & Conciergie)

Since day two was our busiest day in Paris, and we had three cameras with us (SLR for each and the cybershot), I have lots of photos to share and will spread the post over two days.

Wednesday was our second day in Paris, and first full day there. We left our room around 9 am for Notre Dame. There, we waited in an ever increasing line for the Notre Dame Tower to open at 9:30. I'm glad we got there when we did, otherwise we probably would have skipped doing it. They only let 20 people in every 10 minutes, so we could have waited in line for hours.

While in line, I realized we needed to pre-buy our Paris Museum Pass which we had planned on using for basically every sight we were going to over the next few days. I didn't know if they sold it inside or not, so I frantically ran to the Crypt to buy it, which wasn't open yet. Then I got directed to the Visitor Booth where I finally was able to purchase it and race back. Just in time for our group to be let in. So let's just say I was a bit winded by the time we had to climb all the steps to the Towers.










 Notre Dame is quite old, with work starting in 1163 and ending in 1345. Due to the long building period, different architects and styles were used. Notre Dame is especially famous for its flying buttresses,

 gargoyles and chimeras.

After climbing up the towers, we had a great view of the city.

photo by Adam

But the best part, was an up close look at the gargoyles and chimeras. Adam and I had a lot of fun taking pictures of them.

photo by Adam (I'm the shadowy thing)

This was on the back side of the balcony overlooking the length of the church.

We also climbed up inside one of the bell towers.

Once we were done with our Tower visit, we descended and then went inside the Cathedral, admiring the ornate sculptures above the doors on our way in.

My favorite parts inside were the rose windows.

Even though this was my third visit to Notre Dame, I still enjoyed it. I thought the Towers were definitely worth doing.

Next up was Sainte-Chapelle, which is just a short walk from Notre Dame, still on the Île de la Cité. We waited in a long security line, but it only took about 15 minutes to get in. It's a small chapel that was built in the courtyard of the royal palace. Sainte-Chapelle is famous because it's walls are virtually all windows - stained glass windows. It was begun in 1239, and also features flying buttresses like Notre Dame.

I was really looking forward to Sainte-Chapelle, but it was a little disappointing due to one entire wall of it being covered up due to restoration. In the photo below, the entire wall on the left side was covered in the white you see.

Had I know about the restoration, I'm sure I still would have visited. It was worth seeing.

Then we took a quick visit to La Conciergerie, which was right next door to Ste-Chapelle and was a former palace and prison. The Hall of Guards was cool to see, but otherwise, it wasn't really worth the visit. There was not a lot to see.

The exterior of it is probably the most interesting!

By the time we were done with Conciergie, it was already 1 and we had seen a lot. We strolled along the Seine and found somewhere to eat. It was a cute place, but I ordered poorly and did NOT like my fish. Adam enjoyed his sandwich though.