France | Roving Sun

August 27, 2023September 15, 2023

The Louvre and Three Historic Churches

We headed out in the morning to visit the Louvre, probably the most famous museum in the world and home of the Mona Lisa. After spending the morning there, we had lunch at a boulangerie and visited Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, a nearby historic church. We continued on to Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest church in Paris. We visited a third church, Saint-Eustache, a church we saw on our first day in Paris. We ended our day with dinner in a restaurant next to the church.

August 26, 2023September 15, 2023

Musée d’Orsay and the Tuileries Garden

We headed out a bit early for our timed entry to the Musée d’Orsay to take a very quick walk through the Tuileries Garden. Afterwards, we spent a few hours in the museum before heading out for lunch nearby. We then crossed the Seine to visit the Place de la Concorde before heading back into Tuileries Garden. We ultimately ended the day at Place Vendôme, also nearby.

August 25, 2023September 15, 2023

Rising Up From the Catacombs to the Eiffel Tower

We started out by heading to the Catacombs of Paris, a series of underground tunnels where human remains were moved after the city’s cemeteries were filled in the 18th century. Afterwards, we had lunch at a restaurant by Rue Daguerre, a pedestrianized street lined with cafes and shops.

After lunch, we took the Metro over to Cité, an island in the middle of the Seine. We visited the Sainte-Chapelle, a former royal chapel. We also saw the exterior of the Notre Dame de Paris, the city’s famous cathedral which is currently being restored after suffering a fire in 2019.

We then made our way to the Eiffel Tower where we took a 1 hour boat sightseeing cruise with Bateaux Parisiens, which we received as a welcome amenity yesterday from the Le Méridien Etoile. Afterwards, we went up to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Eiffel Tower where we spent the rest of the evening.

August 24, 2023September 15, 2023

Montmartre and the Arc de Triomphe

After arriving at CDG in the morning, we headed over to La Defense to drop off our bags before heading to the Arc de Triomphe. We briefly took a look from the across the road before queuing to enter. We enjoyed the view from atop the monument before getting lunch from a nearby restaurant.

Afterwards, we took the Metro to Montmartre followed by the funicular to the top of the hill. Once there, we visited Sacré-Coeur and adjacent Saint-Pierre church. After walking down the hill, we took the Metro once again to Canal Saint-Martin where we walked around a bit before getting dinner near the Gare de l’Est.

We ended the evening with a quick stop at Les Halles where we got some dessert and walked around near the Saint-Eustache Church. After a debacle at the hotel involving wet carpets, we cancelled our stay and instead checked into the Le Méridien Étoile by the Porte Maillot station.

October 2, 2022October 25, 2022

Chamonix

We headed to Chamonix by train this morning from Switzerland. We intended to visit the ice cave as well as take the aerial tram up to the approximately 12,600 foot tall Aiguille du Midi. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do all those things due to some unanticipated closures but still had a good time. We’ll have to come back to experience what we missed as well as other summer activities that weren’t available due to it being at the very end of the summer activity season.