Notre Dame and Louvre

July 23rd--Today was our first day to explore Paris with the Jaye's. We were all anxious to see some major sights today. With 4 adults and 4 kids, we were a little slow to get going this morning, but once we did, we headed to Notre Dame Cathedral. We were immediately greeted by a lot gypsy's outside the church asking if we spoke English. Our standard answer was to shake our heads and say "no". Notre Dame Cathedral is 700 years old and full of history, but with 4 kids, it meant one thing...the search for The Hunchback! After checking the massive facade (and its ornate statuary), we ventured inside. The massive Gothic nave greeted us, along with the start of noon mass. We wandered around the altar and choir and then back out after not finding the Hunchback. We had planned to go up in the tower to look for him, but decided the kids were ready for lunch and we would have to save that for another day. After leaving the church, we walked along the Seine River toward the Louvre. We stopped at a cafe along the way for lunch. We sat outside at the street side cafe enjoying a traditional Paris lunch. Before going into the Louvre, we let the kids play at Tuileries Gardens. We thought it was best to let them burn off some energy before going into a huge museum. The crowds were pretty massive going into the Louvre. Shanda, I and the kids stood in line for the restroom while the men rented strollers. We decided to rent strollers in hopes that it would keep the kids contained during our visit. The strollers were great to have because the museum is really big (understatement) and there was a lot of walking. We navigated our way to the elevator and up to the Greek statues first. From here, we went to see the famous Mona Lisa. I had heard it was a little overrated and I guess it was a little bit. I had envisioned this massive painting of the Mona Lisa, but it's actually quite small. No matter the size though, I'm blessed to be able to say that I've actually seen the Mona Lisa painting. We walked the Grand Gallery admiring works from Italian Renaissance painters. We made our way to the Spanish gallery for Shanda to see some of the Spanish paintings. Shanda is a Spanish teacher and fan of all things Spain. It was fun for us also as we were able to see some of the same artist we first saw in the Prado in Madrid. We ended our visit to the Louvre by heading downstairs to see the Venus de Milo. On our way downstairs, we passed some of the paintings from the medieval times (1200-1500). It was neat to see some of the same alter piece paintings that we saw throughout Italy and be able to point out the evolution of 3D to the Jaye's. Even though we spent a couple of hours in the Louvre, we probably only "saw" about 1/5 of the museum...it is just huge! After our time in the Louvre, we left to go ride the Ferris Wheel. Everybody rode except me, I opted to stay on the ground. From here, it was close to dinner and the kids were tired. We headed back to the apartment to feed and bath the kids. After they were all situated, Mike and Shanda ventured out to go find the adults something for dinner. They came back with a great selection of cheeses, quiches, artichoke hearts and squid. We spent the rest of the night eating, drinking and talking.