Day 10 – PARIS Part Deux

Today we went on the “Tour de Paris”.  We scheduled a bike riding tour, but didn’t really research how long it would be or where it was going.  As it turned out, it was a very comprehensive tour around the sights in the center of Paris and lasted 3.5 hours.  The best part were the stories and history lesson that our guide Jon told us about.  This was by far Lily’s favorite part of the trip and she was always first or second in line behind the tour guide and actually lead the group at one point.  The ride was also at the top of the highlight reel for Matt and Belinda and it answered one nagging question – Can Charles sleep while riding on a bike?

The stories Jon told us about focused on five people – Louis the 14 (the “Sun” King – who had a 72yr reign and erected the Dome Eglise), Louis the 15 (the “Fun” King – known for partying), Louis the 16 (the “Done” King, who was the sovereign at the start of the Revolution), Napoleon Bonaparte (needs no introduction) and Napoleon III (who actually was quite impressive in that he had Paris completely rebuilt into the city that is known for today (wide streets, 6 story buildings and convergence of streets to roundabouts).

After the ride, there were a couple sights that we wanted to get a closer look at, so we incorporated them into our route to Notre Dame Cathedral.  First, we stopped by the Place de la Concord (Obelisk from Egypt and also the site of more than 2000+ guillotine deaths just after the revolution), Jardin des Tuiletres/Arc de Triumph de Carousel (the prototype Arc de Triumph) and Louvre.

Then at the Notre Dame Cathedral we lit a candle in tribute to the church and listened to part of the evening mass and vespers.

Then we walked the Seine back to Les Invalides, a military  hospital in which most of the building was converted to a war museum.  It had some bushes shaped into bullets, that rabbits and pigeons apparently like to live in and there was a non-functional moat (stagnant water and sick people apparently do not mix).  We did not go into any of the museums, but we saw some amazing architecture.

At the end of the day we stopped for crepes and ice cream before chilling and packing at the Air BnB.

Wow what a trip, the family did incredibly well enduring many miles of walking (i.e. Melanie clocked 24,000 steps today and 21,000 steps yesterday – back to back personal bests!) and being able to nap in incredible locations and positions, but at the end we are excited to (as Charlie said multiple times) “go to my house” and rest.  See you all soon!  And if you finished this super long post- be on the look out for a bonus post tomorrow!