Sainte Chapelle, Grandma Sue and The Louvre

We were slow to get going Monday morning.  Eventually we managed to get up eat and head out the door closer to 10:00 then the 8:00 we had planned on.  Sue was set to arrive around 11:00 but based on our experience in passport control we figured she wouldn't be ready before 12:00.  Our original plan was to go to Notre Dame but after getting off the Metro Mark saw how close we were to Saint Chapelle and decided to go there instead.  We had bought the Paris Museum Pass the day before and hoped it would help us avoid all the crazy lines, it sadly didn't really. That pass turned out to really not help us much at all so that was annoying oh well.  We waited in one line outside the gates and then another inside the courtyard.  While we were in the 2nd line Mark got a text from Sue that she was ready to be picked up.  We were surprised she was ready so quickly and lucky that her text even came through. The "Gratuit" Wi-Fii at the large tourist sites was really spotty for us.  Mark told her we would be at least an hour and we felt really bad that our timing was so off and she would have to wait so long for us.  I was irritated that our pass hadn't helped us bypass this line as that was a main reason we bought it and decided to go check at the entrance if we could use it.  Turns out we could use it to bypass the ticket line so we quickly did that.  Luckily Saint Chapelle is a comparatively small church in Paris so we could see it quicker than others.

Saint-Chapelle was built in just 7 years.  It is one of my favorite churches I have ever visited.  We walked into the "lobby" and I thought why was Mark so excited about this?  Then we found the staircase up into the sanctuary and I got it.  It was breathtaking. Arranged across 15 windows, 15 meters or 49 feet high (according to a calculation website) there are 1,113 pictures in stained glass portraying stories from the Old and New Testaments covering the creation of the world through the relics arriving in Paris. Its basically wall to wall stained glass windows. Visiting this Church was one of my top 3 favorite things in Paris.  I loved it.

After enjoying the amazing windows we quickly got on the Metro, hopped off and picked up our rental car.  We hurried as fast as we could to the airport and found Sue surprisingly easily. Jared and Lydia were so happy that she came to hang out with us in Paris.  Its a really fun memory for them.  After getting Sue we headed into Paris to check out the Louvre.  Lydia was really excited to see the Mona Lisa.  Before leaving for Paris I had checked out quite a few Picture story books about Paris to read with Jared and Lydia and one of her favorites was "Who Stole the Mona Lisa?" Sue had already been to the Louvre and told me that she thought it was the most overrated painting in the world.  She is not the only one I have heard this from.  She opted to stay down a few floors while we went in search of the painting.  We made sure to enjoy a few others along our way and all commented on how impossible it would be to see everything in that museum.  Mark seemed to enjoy the mosaics we came across, Jared loved a painting of David and Goliath, I loved the kitchen/serving type ceramics/pottery and Lydia loved the Mona Lisa. She also wanted to stay and rest with Grandma Sue but we said no way!

I feel like I have seen this picture in so many textbooks or just art books.  He (Louis XIV) intended to give it as a gift to his nephew in Spain but loved it so much he kept it for himself to hang in Versailles.

After we exited the Louvre we stopped across the street from it and enjoyed some fresh street cart crepes.  Jared Lydia and I had been looking forward to eating crepes in Paris for weeks and they did not disappoint.  Mark got a ham and cheese one, Sue got lemon and sugar, Jared and I got Nutella and Lydia got Nutella and strawberry jam. Another favorite book was "Crepes by Suzette" and we felt like we were a page of the book.

This is my favorite picture from our trip. It makes me so happy. 

We bought a Paris photo frame and I already printed out a copy of it and set it on our bookshelf. 

We headed back to our Airbnb in Suresnes after that and had a lovely dinner of apples and oranges, fresh baked bread (we ate so many baguettes! I loved it) cheese and yogurt, we felt very French.  As we were riding the metro back Sue encouraged Mark and I to go out and have a date night in Paris.  At first we thought no we are too tired but then we realized how amazing it would be to go into Paris ourselves and see it lit up that we decided to go for it.  Sue, Jared, and Lydia were pretty much in bed by the time we left and we are so grateful she suggested it. It was awesome and a really fun unique experience for Mark and I.