Day 3

Today was absolutely incredible! Although we only went to three actual sights, my little toesies are a-killin' me! We went to the Notre-Dame first-thing this morning and fortunately were able to get some shots of the facade before it began a rain that plagued us for the rest of the day. Entering the Portal of St. Anne, we walked down the right nave with the throng of tourists speaking every kind of language, peeking into the alcoves at the paintings, icons, and beautiful stained-glass windows. There was this gorgeous stone frieze by the choir that was absolutely incredible in its detail. Apparently the church used to utilize the windows, walls, statues, paintings, friezes, and architecture to teach the illiterate peasants the various biblical accounts and martyr stories.

We then waited in line for an hour to walk up the 400 tightly spiraling stone steps to the top of the tower, where we took a bunch of awesome gargoyle and city pictures. After which we climbed another three flights of stairs to the bell that Quasimodo went deaf ringing, and then made our way back down the tower to the ground floor.

Our trip to the Notre-Dame ended rather anti-climactically with our foray into the Archeological Crypt, which was basically a bunch of rocks that happened to be placed by Romans (and therefore of meager distinction) in an underground "museum". Disappointing, to say the least...

A charming walk in the frigid, pouring rain along the Seine ensued, in which my toes began to get pruny and my pants wet to my calf :) We popped into the Orsay Museum, which focuses on pre-impressionism, impressionism, and post-impressionism, and had an early dinner at the cafe located behind the enormous clock (the building was the old train station). We walked through 3 of the floors of art until closing time, which wasn't really too heartbreaking to hear, as I had had pretty much met my quota of chunky naked women and wizzled naked old men forever immortalized through pointillism in oils by that point.

Hopping on the metro, we headed for our hotel, where we now sit, rubbing our feet and drying our hair.

Tomorrow we finish the Orsay, go to the Louvre, visit the Cluny Museum, and perhaps peek our heads into Sainte-Chapelle.

Miss and love you all!