Paris, Days Four and Five - 6/28 & 29

Our fourth day in Paris, we took the day off and slept in, caught up on laundry, explored the village and just enjoyed the non-touristy life. Later, we realized we were exactly at the half way point of our trip, so it was the perfect day to just stay in. (:

Our batteries recharged, we tackled Paris again the next day. We searched for a boulangerie ("bakery") in the back streets behind Notre Dame and finally found one. More or less, each day started out this way and it was wonderful to explore the deeper parts of the city and not get caught up in the touristy shops and restaurants. We lunched and listened to the Mass being performed outside. They'd set up a little stage outside of the cathedral and the priest was surrounded by worshippers. Pieces of it were in French, others in Latin and every moment was beautiful.

After lunch, we headed down into the Archeological Crypt. It was so cool. If you're ever at Notre Dame, spend 30 minutes and 4 euros and do this. The crypt was built around the ruins of ancient Paris as the city grew and it was incredible; really, I have no words, just pictures.

Stairs leading down to the street

A well

Foundations of a house

Stairs leading into a cellar

After the crypt, we booked it over to the Louvre, where we spent the rest of our day. In four hours, we made it through 2 of the 3 wings and called ourselves successful. My little Da Vinci Code heart was in love.

The Louvre used to be a royal palace and this was the dining room

Dining table

My favorite painting in the entire museum; it's also the museum's largest canvas;. It depicts Napoleon crowning himself Emperor. The painting was commissioned by Napoleon and he demanded that the artist paint in his mother, even though she disapproved and had refused to attend his coronation.

No flash, got it.

It was the perfect beginning to the second half of our trip and, yet again, another awesome couple of days.

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