Day 7 (Notre Dame and the Louvre)
Today was the last full day of our adventure and while we were excited for the things we would get to see, there was definitely a bit of sadness that the amazing time with our guides and fellow adventurers was coming to an end. We had a slightly later start again today which was great as we were all tiring out. The drive from our hotel to Notre Dame took longer, and was a lot more complicated than normal, due to a 10k running race through the center of the city. The bus ended up letting us off a little ways away from Notre Dame and we all walked across a bridge towards the cathedral. The guides gave us an overview of the area and Cecile our local guide told us a few facts about the cathedral and the architecture of it. We were free to wait in line to go into the cathedral, wait to go with the guides into the towers, or wander the square on our own. We were given a couple hours (I think) to explore and then go get lunch on our own before meeting up again.
Probably about half of our group decided to do the climb to the bell towers. Here we were able to experience some of the ABD line cutting magic. Frankie and Adam took us into a shorter line to begin our climb. I was very nervous about this as I hate steep staircases and especially spiral staircases. I kept myself to the back of the group and took my time. Knowing that I would have two different points where I could check out the view and then bail out helped too. Frankie is such a sweetheart that he hung back and made sure that I made it all the way to the top. A big plus was that I was able to get tips from him on all the cool picture spots. I am really glad that I did the climb and going up was not as bad as I thought it would be. Coming down was more of a constant spiral and I did get a bit dizzy but I just took my time.
View from the top:
Frankie brought props for pictures:
My family and a few others and Frankie and Adam got into the line to enter the Cathedral. It moved really quickly. We knew this was going to be the hottest temperature day of the trip and I was worried about whether it would be appropriate to wear shorts today because of the Cathedral (and it was a Sunday), but the guides assured me that it was completely fine and it was. Because it was a Sunday, we were able to hear a portion of a service and it just happened to be the one in English. Very beautiful and moving.
My family then headed across the river into a shopping district that had many tourist shops and restaurants. We hit up Shakespeare’s Bookstore where we all got a book and where my son (following Frankie and Adam’s warnings) was able to thwart a pick-pocket! We had lunch at a small café nearby where I think half of our group ended up. We still had a bit of time left so DH and DD headed back to an ice cream stand by the Cathedral while my son and I headed off in search of my Starbucks souvenir mug. Both of the locations near the hotel were sold out, but I was able to walk about three blocks away from this main tourist area and find a Starbucks that had plenty of them. Here is a picture since I know we have a few collectors on this board.
Our group met up and slowly made our way to the water taxi stop which would take us to the Louvre. We had been a little slow to gather so the taxi we had intended to take was pulling away as we got there. We ended up having a 15 or 20 minute wait for the next one. I am not sure if this ended up eating into our time at the Louvre, but it did make it seem like we had a lot of waiting around time. As I mentioned, it was really hot this day and the water taxi was not the most pleasant ride because we were all out in the sun or in the glassed in viewing area. This was not a private water taxi it was the regular taxi and was filled with other tourists – there were plenty of seats though. Our group disembarked at the Louvre stop. We all stopped in the large courtyard taking lots of group and family photos of the pyramid.
The whole process of getting into the Louvre and getting organized seemed to not be the most time efficient. Once we were inside in the large shopping area just outside the museum entrance we paused for a 15 minute bathroom/snack break before breaking into our smaller groups. I think we broke into two groups of adults and then the kids went off with the guides. We went through security and then paused again so that people could check large bags Once we finally started our tour we learned that we would only spend about an hour and 15 minutes touring the Louvre. I knew that this tour was a “just the highlights” tour, but I was shocked that it was this short. Definitely keep this in mind if exploring the Louvre is high on your list of must-do’s. The free time on the afternoon of the previous day would be a great time to do a more thorough exploration. For me, it is just a reason to plan another visit. Our guide did a very good job of taking us through the crowds to see some of the most famous pieces in the museum and gave a bit of an art history lesson about them. I loved my art history class in high school, so it was painful to just walk past so many other beautiful pieces that I recognized. I hung back/wandered off a bit so that I could see a bit more, but made sure to always stay within ear/eye shot of the group so that I did not get separated.
The kids saw basically all the same pieces of artwork that we did but did it in scavenger hunt format. They must have gone at warp speed because they were done before us and the guides took them all to Starbucks for treats. They had a great time and even learned something – when we did the backlot tour at DLP there was a prop area with lots of replica statues. My son excitedly pointed out one of them and said “look Lauren there is the “ ……” statue that we saw at the Louvre. Of course, getting to go to Starbucks with the crazy uncles was a big memory too.
Everyone was exhausted from this busy day but we only had a short amount of time until our farewell dinner (I think it was about an hour).
Our farewell dinner was being held at a Lauduree outpost that was closed for the evening. We had the whole place to ourselves and we did get an opportunity to do a little shopping before dinner. As we entered we were given a champagne cocktail and a few appetizers to nibble. Seating was divided up into tables of various sizes and was not assigned. Many of the kids sat together and we sat with some of our new friends. This was another meal that we had ordered on the first day so I had completely forgotten what I had picked out. Everyone seemed very happy with their selections. This farewell dinner followed the typical formula and included all the regular “surprises” and everyone sharing their favorite memories from the trip. The bond that the kids shared with Adam and Frankie really came through as they all presented a special rap ala Hamilton that the kids prepared together with the guides. As compared to our other two trips, this one had more time where the kids went of the guides and the kids all adored them. This was also the most emotional farewell dinner – my daughter was in tears and I think one of our guides was close to it.
The kids all brought their "mascots" to join with Teddy.
We headed back to the hotel and many of us lingered around the lobby chatting with each other and the guides. Finally I could not avoid the fact that we needed to go pack as we still had our two post days to come.