Day Two 2017

I woke up to discover that my dear hubby had already shopped at the local patisserie for croissants and pain au chocolate. I was feeling pretty rough and hadn't slept well the night before. He made a good cup of green tea  and fed us pastries and fresh berries. We ate a yummy breakfast in our room and then we headed to the train station.

The train ride was pretty simple. Our plan was to spend the day on the Isle de Cite. We started at the Sainte Chappel.  It takes your breath away. Really, it does. The stained glass windows are in order. They tell the story of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation.  When my FIL came to this church, he actually tried to count them and estimates there are 300,000 stained glass windows. It is something to behold. They stone carvings also tell stories from the Bible. The children enjoyed naming the stories from the scenes depicted.

We walked through the courtyard of the Justice Department and had a picnic by the river. Then we went to the Concierge. The kids were disappointed. It may be the first palace, but there's not much in it. There was a very good video about the history of French politics, complete with graphic beheading scenes. I read that it was set up like it had been during Gothic times, but there really wasn't much in there.

We headed out to get a sweet treat before going to Notre Dame. This was our first repeat activity of the day. I can't imagine ever tiring of looking at Notre Dame. Even the front facade is mesmerizing enough to get lost in. The interior, even more so. The sheer number of prayer chapels, statues, paintings, and friezes, is overwhelming. It really is huge, even by cathedral standards. It's ginormous.

We were going to go to the top, but the line was incredibly long. Instead, we went to the park behind it (again) and had a great time remembering Leonardo on that silver spaceship spinning things. It's still there.  The girl's both journaled about their trip there while Jasper spun in circles for about an hour. It's a beautiful place to soak up the sun and breathe while you take it all in.

After our leisurely pause, we headed to the crypts. This was a new one for us, and I LOVED it. It's an archaeological site that was discovered during the installation of a parking lot. They never put the parking lot there because the Roman ruins of the original city from two thousand years ago was found there. You get to look at about four city blocks of ancient Roman ruins. There's a plethora of ancient roman coins with roman artifacts. There's lots of interactive maps, 3D images of the city over the course of a millennium and parts of the original wall that fortified the city.  It's a home schooler's dream come true for ancient studies! We stayed there until they closed.

Then we hopped back on the bus and cooked dinner in our room. My dear hubby had grabbed some yummy sweet sausage to go with our pasta. The plan was an early dinner and a prompt bedtime to help the kids shift their circadian rhythms. it worked for two out of three of them.

Two hours after bedtime, our youngest is still bouncing off the walls while everyone else sleeps. He can't help it. It's jet lag. The kids with the most predictable schedules at home are the ones who have the hardest time adjusting to the new time zone.