Exploring Paris

Today was another early start. We hopped on the train to make it to the Louvre Museum by 9:30am. We took some pictures of the entrance which is a glass pyramid located in the courtyard.

We were glad we bought tickets online and got there early because we easily saved ourselves 1 hour waiting in line. Once we entered the museum, we went directly to the Mona Lisa because we heard sometimes you can wait for 2 to 3 hours. To our surprise, we only had to wait a whopping 7 minutes!

It was pretty cool to see the Mona Lisa in real life. It is actually quite small compared to the majority of the other paintings in the museum. The staff was very strict about keeping the line moving, so each group only got about 60 seconds in front of it.

After that, we just began wandering around the museum. Outside of the Mona Lisa, we were not sure what to expect. Turns out there is SO much more to explore: sculptures from all over the world, beautiful art, intricate ceilings, and paintings larger than you can imagine.

When we were done with the Louvre, we headed to Sainte Chapelle. It was about a 20 minute walk. However, there were a handful of electric scooters lying around, so we unlocked one and both hopped on.

Sainte Chapelle was totally free, and we waited in line for maybe 30 minutes. It was absolutely worth it. Almost every square inch of this church is decorated in elaborate stained glass with beautiful high ceilings.

It than began to rain so we took cover and had lunch at a quick sandwich shop. We though the coast was clear, but right after we took off, it began pouring again. We took cover at nearby starbucks, and enjoyed a coffee while getting a head start writing the blog and planning out our next move.

After awhile, the rain lessened to a light sprinkle. We were right around the corner from Notre Dame, so stopped by there real quick. Due to the recent fire damage, we were unable to get very close to the cathedral. So we snapped a few pictures from afar.

Since the rain wasn't going to let up for awhile, we decided to hit up another museum. Next on our list was Musée d'Orsay. Previously an old railway station, this museum is one of the largest in Europe. It boasts a large collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces from famous artists like Monet, Seurat, and Van-Gogh.

After that we wanted to check out the Latin Quarter. Its narrow cobblestone streets and plenty of small restaurants, made it the perfect place to grab a bite to eat for dinner.

After such an action packed day, we headed back to recharge our batteries. One confusing metro adventure later, we finally made it back to our hostel.