Europe Trip Part 10: Day Three in Paris, Saint Chapelle and Catacombs

June 28, Wednesday

This morning we were going to get up at 8 AM and be ready by 9:30 AM but that didn't happen. Emily and Jonny were both sound asleep when I woke up and I didn't have the heart to wake up either of them. I finally got Emily up at 8:40 AM and she was annoyed that I didn't get her up sooner but our plan was to go to the big bus tour at 9:30 AM and use that to get to the Saint Chapelle, but it really wasn't necessary and we could do it a different way and I wanted to let Johnny sleep. He's been so sick with a cold and he was sound asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake him up. We ended up letting him sleep until 10 AM and we left around 10:30 AM. We didn't have any luck getting an Uber for all six of us. Finally, Michael got an Uber and we went to find a taxi while he waited for his Uber. We walked to the Champs-Elysees and we were able to hail a cab quickly. Michael took Daniel and Jonny with him and I had Emily and Andrew with me. Somehow, we made it there first. Our tickets were for 11 AM so I was getting kind of nervous that they weren't there yet. We finally found them and we were able to get into the line before 11:30 AM, which is when the next group would be allowed in. We were able to skip the line and get in fairly quickly. The bottom floor is really cool, but I was so confused because it wasn't what I had pictured. We took a bunch of pictures down there and Emily got a little souvenir that's like a folding paper thing and Daniel got one, too, and I got a magnet.

Then we went up to the second level and that's where all the stained glass was. I thought, OK, this is what I wanted to see! It was beautiful! There was so much stained glass. We walked around and took pictures. Emily had started giving us a tour downstairs using the pamphlet. Then she also got the card from upstairs and read it to us as we walked around. I remember thinking how much my Grandma Kathy would've liked that place. 

I think we were there for about 45 minutes total. I think it was about 12:30 PM by the time we left. I wanted to go to lunch at Café de Flore. We decided to try the metro. Andrew led us there and we got our tickets and got on the train pretty easily. I almost got caught in the door so I need to be more careful about that. There isn't time to stand there and wait for people to get off before you get on. We only went two stops and then we came up and found the café pretty quickly. There were actually two cafés very close to one another and I wanted to try both of them. Les Deux Magots had a line but I really wanted Café de Flore. 

It had a pretty long line but we got in it and decided what to do. Emily and I went back to the other one and looked at the menu. I told Emily I wanted to go back to Café de Fleur and look at the menu there and as I was walking over, Michael and the boys were being seated already so I went and signaled to Emily and we went into that café. 

They seated us on the top floor. This time we asked for tap water and it saved us a ton of money. I got the quiche Lorraine and it was just OK. Emily and Michael and Andrew got the club sandwich. Daniel got scrambled eggs and bacon, but he wasn't happy that the bacon was more like ham. Jonny got the chicken supreme, which is basically an entire chicken quarter. Emily's club sandwich was so tall she couldn't fit it in her mouth. They also brought us some bread that was pretty good. They brought us a little bowl and we couldn't tell if it was butter or mayonnaise. I tried it on my bread and it was definitely mayonnaise but it didn't taste too bad. It's nice that when we go to the cafés, we can actually use the bathroom for free, but the line to use this one was really long. 

My quiche Lorraine

We finished up and went back to the metro and we had to go six stops for the Catacombs. Our appointment was at 2:15 PM and we actually got there early so that was nice. We decided not to get an audio guide and I kind of regretted that but it worked out OK because they had a lot of boards with pictures and information in multiple languages so we read those as we walked through. We went down 112 steps and then walked quite a ways underground until we got to the actual catacombs. It was pretty creepy but also very interesting. It was very odd to see the skeletons stacked in patterns. There are multiple different patterns along the way. Some of the skeletons had holes in their head and we were trying to figure out if that was damage from a gunshot or something like that. Andrew kept saying the pictures weren't allowed but I looked at the sign and it was just saying that photography equipment like extra flashes and tripods and selfie sticks weren't allowed, so I did take some pictures. We didn't take backpacks with us today because they weren't allowed in the Catacombs. You weren't allowed to wear a backpack on your back, I guess because you could turn around and accidentally knock into one of the skeletons with your bag. It was very interesting. 

It was difficult to climb back up all the steps. I got myself a magnet. By the time we got out of there, it was a little after 3 PM. We didn't know if we should try an Uber, a taxi, or the metro. Where we came out of the Catacombs, there wasn't a whole lot going on and it was didn't look like it would be easy to hail a cab so we had Andrew guide us to the nearest metro station. It took a little time but we made it. I figured it would be easier for us to just take an Uber back to the hotel and everybody agreed. Andrew wasn't happy about it, but I think that was best. I was actually able to find one that would fit all six of us in a Toyota Highlander. Normally we use vans. I was still a little hungry and I wanted to go down the street to the bakery and try some of the treats that I didn't get to try yet. Daniel and Jonny wanted to go back into the rooms and the rest of us went down there. I tried cheesecake and a Paris breast. We got a cookie for Daniel and we got a cinnamon roll and a Coke for Jonny because that's what he asked for. Poor Jonny hasn't been feeling well. He seemed to be doing a little bit better today. I think him getting the extra sleep this morning helped a lot.

The lobby of our hotel, Hotel Colisee

Anyway, after we left the bakery, I saw a cute little shop that I wanted to stop in and Emily went in with me. They had some cute dresses that also reminded me of the dresses I saw in Italy and so I couldn't resist trying it on. There was another one that was a really light color that had some pretty sparkles going through it but the color didn't look very good on me so I tried on a blue one with flowers on it—that’s the one that reminded me of the Italian dresses. I really liked it. The saleslady was pretty pushy but I didn't let her talk me into the expensive one. After a while, Emily went back to the hotel and I kept shopping. I decided on that dress and then as I was going to check out, I saw a cute little coin purse that I couldn't resist and another T-shirt that had sparkles on it. I tried on a couple of those. I bought all my new clothes and took them up to the hotel. 

Then we figured out what restaurant we could go to. There were multiple options across the street. We looked at L'Alsace and Café di Roma but the kids really wanted Café di Roma so that's what we chose. I had Michael and the boys meet us in our room at 6:30 PM. We read two chapters for Come Follow Me and had a prayer and then we headed over to dinner at Café di Roma. They didn't take reservations but we got in pretty easily. We met up with Marvin from the World Stevia Organization and his wife Ruby. He had been trying to meet up with Michael and this seemed like the best option. They were very nice and we had fun talking to them. They took us upstairs and we had a nice meal together. I got steak and fries. So did Jonny and Daniel. It was ok but not as good as steaks in the US. Emily and Andrew got the margherita pizza and Michael got a chicken cutlet with some pasta. Emily and Jonny worked it out that she was going to give him half of her pizza and he would give her his fries so they were both happy. They had calzones but Daniel didn't want one because it had an egg in it. We talked with Marvin and Ruby for a little while and they gave us some advice on restaurants we could go to and said they would send it to Michael. Marvin and Michael talked about the WSO for a little while. We finished up dinner and said our goodbyes to them. We got a picture together. 

I wanted to walk down to Laduree to get some fancy macarons. The kids were OK with walking down there with me but when they saw the line, the boys immediately started complaining, especially Jonny. I said well, let's think about what we can do and we talked about Michael taking the boys back but before we knew it the line got quite a bit shorter and we were next to go in into the store so we just stayed together. Everybody chose two macarons and Andrew got a big one and Michael and I got a croissant to share. It wasn't cheap, but it was fun to try. 

Here are a few pictures of the street near our hotel. This is taken from Colisee Gourmet, our favorite bakery for breakfast.

 

Here is the view outside Colisee Gourmet, facing southwest toward our hotel on the left.  If you go to the end of this street, that is the Champs Elysees.

Here is the opposite view outside Colisee Gourmet, facing northeast.

We came back to the hotel and everybody had their treats. I thought they were much better than the ones across the street at Pierre Herme. Emily and the boys went upstairs to the other room to watch TV. I tried to do some organizing for our trip to Bayeux tomorrow since we will be checking out of this hotel and staying at a different one when we get back from Bayeux, Normandy. We've all decided we're going to get up early to get ready and do our packing.