Saturday... Starting with a Walking Tour of Paris

We had booked our Paris walking tour for Thursday but it was rainy. Then Friday was snowy!  So luckily I could reschedule it for Saturday, which was still super cold but at least it was clear. The tour started at Hotel de Ville and thankfully Zaf walked around the side of the building because we were waiting in the wrong place for a good 15 minutes LOL. But we found our guide by the starting time and met another Australian family in the group which was fun (especially for Cora as they had an adorable baby for her to play with throughout the tour!).

One of the first stops was Notre Dame which of course we couldn't see very close up because it was closed for renovation after the fire a few years ago, but it was still beautiful and our guide did a fantastic job of pointing out some of the details we could see from the outside. Cora had recently watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame so she connected with it, too. 

Seeing the prison where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned was a highlight for me... even though I missed the description during the tour because the kids were all asking for their hats and gloves. It was COLD!

It was fun walking over some bridges and learning about the history of Paris and the way it was designed. I took a photo in this spot because we could see the statue of the horse which the guide had just described, as well as the Eiffel Tower which we were going to later in the afternoon.

I hadn't planned a trip inside the Sainte-Chapelle (we've seen so many churches and I know we'll see many more!) so it was nice to see it from the outside and hear the guide describe some of the different features it had inside.

The history of the Louvre was very interesting as well, and the kids enjoyed finding the different letters that marked which rulers built/renovated different sections.

The guide shared why the Mona Lisa became so famous, and it was a great intro for the next day since the kids were going to see the painting during our tour of the Louvre. 

One of the last stops was the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which was quite impressive. 

Then lastly we finished the tour in the Tuileries Garden which was very beautiful, not only because of all the statues but the variety of flowers and trees. I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older or because of the season we are here but I've been very impressed by all the gardens we've been seeing! It almost makes me want to garden more when we get home!

  

After the tour we went to lunch, climbed the Eiffel Tower, and went to a devotional at the Paris Baha'i Centre.  By the time we left it was about 10pm so we thought why not walk to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night!

After seeing the 11pm light show, we finally got to the right train to get us home and climbed into bed around midnight. It was a long day but full of good memories.