Seine River Cruise: Paris City Tour

For our first full day on the cruise we had booked a full day tour of Paris. This was supposed a chance to see some of the sites in Paris that we hadn't been able to with J and B.

A few days before the cruise we got an email saying it was going to have to be changed up due to the Olympics. I should have cancelled so Irv and I could go out and do our own thing.

We knew it was going to be a disappointing day when our first stop was at a very tall skyscraper (for Paris standards) where they took us to the observation deck on the top floor and just started pointing out all the sites we had thought we would visit in person.

That round ball is the Olympic flame in the Tuileries Garden.

Notre Dame was in the far distance. Did you know that almost all churches are called Notre Dame in France? Our Lady is another name for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Any church dedicated to her is called Notre Dame.

That gold dome is the Les Invalides, the location of Napoleon's tomb which I had really wanted to visit.

Another great shot of the Eiffel Tower.

Then we made our way back to the motor coach and headed to Notre Dame.

It's remarkable that this magnificent cathedral that was destroyed by fire has been almost completely restored in only five years.

As you can see there are still many cranes around her.

It would have been nice if she could have reopened in time for the Olympics, but the opening is scheduled for December 9th which coincides with the Feast of the Immaculate Inception.

There's Irv searching for a nearby geocache.

More shots of the work in progress. It's nice to see that spire up there. Remember the video of it crashing through the roof?

We did a little souvenir shopping at the nearby tourist traps and then sat and waited for the rest of the group in this beautiful little garden. It was another extremely hot day in Paris so the shade was welcomed.

There was a beautiful building next door, but then most of the buildings in Paris are beautiful.

Then we loaded back on the bus and went to our lunch location. Le Louchebem is French slang for butcher. We all go seated in the back room and had a delicious meal and wine, but no air conditioning.

After lunch we had to walk several blocks to meet the bus and we passed by the Sorbonne. I thought that was cool.

We were finally off to the Louvre! This is the side of the palace that you don't normally see. The glass pyramid is in the center plaza.

Passageway to get to the center.

There it is!

See that neck fan around me neck? Best investment ever!!

Here's what I call the mini Arc de Triomphe.

I loved this view! I bet it's spectacular at night.

Some of the original wall back when it was built as a fortress in the 12th century under Phillip II. The Louvre Palace became the principal home of the kings in 1546 under Francis I. The Louvre became a museum in 1793 to house France's masterpieces.

I didn't photography too many of the pieces, but here are a few of my favorites.

Venus de Milo from the second century BC.

Old Centaur Ridden by Eros (or Cupid) was my favorite (also from the 2nd century BC). It's a copy from the Borghese collection.

Now that's a fireplace.

Don't forget to look up!

I loved the Winged Victory of Samothrace from the 2nd century BC. It represents the goddess Nike whose head and arms are missing. Do you know how long I had to wait for no people to be in the background? Patience pays off.

Then we made it to this very crowded room...what the heck? If you guessed that the Mona Lisa is at the end of the room you'd be correct. Did I mention yet that the Mona Lisa room is the only room airconditioned in the Louvre?

We waited patiently for our turn at a photograph. You know why that line is so long? Damn selfies. Take these two guys for example...they probably took 50 selfies and then had to go through them to make sure they were good enough. Ridicules! This is where the Louvre could put in a queue so people can quietly walk past her. It didn't used to be like this. I'll have to find my photos of her when we visited 30 years ago.

She is beautiful, but I don't understand all the fuss when the museum is filled with other masterpieces.

I went in search of Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix. Luckily I found her. This is where we got in trouble for ditching the rest of our tour group. We could hear them looking for us through our Viking listening devices. People, if you'd just walk a little faster we wouldn't have to ditch you.

I also went in search of The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques Louis David. Another painting on my bucket list.

After we rejoined the group we got to see a couple sculptures by Michelangelo.

Another of my favorites although I didn't see what it was named.

Then it was time for a little shopping before heading back to the ship. I'm not much of a shopper on our trips, my souvenirs are my photos and my memories which is why I blog to preserve them.

Then we got caught in the world's biggest traffic jam. Half of the road was blocked off and nothing was moving. Our ship was going to set sail in about an hour. Hopefully they'll wait for us.