In the City of Blinding Lights...

I have been dying to go to Paris ever since my older brother served his mission there. When we came over here, we didn't know exactly what trips we were going to take, but Paris was a must.

We LOVED Paris. It is such an amazing place!

We arrived late at night, so we weren't able to start touring until the next morning.

We started at the Louvre, which was pretty impressive. It was overwhelming because there is so much stuff everywhere and it was really crowded. Plus, we don't know enough of art history to really appreciate everything we say, but we still really enjoyed are time there.

Outside.

The line to get inside.
One of the main hallways.

The Mona Lisa.
This is the crowd around the Mona Lisa.
You actually can't get that close to the painting anymore.



This painting is also at the Palace of Versailles.
The workshop where they store statues.
One of the reasons why it was so overwhelming is because there are masterpieces everywhere. Even the building itself is a masterpiece. Here's a ceiling.
The Venus de Milo.




We toured through Napoleon's apartment. This is one of the sitting rooms.

Everything was very ornate and grand.

The dinning room.
The ceiling of a stairway.



St. Mary Magdalene.
Michelangelo's The Rebellious Slave.





Gavin's touching the top. :)
After the Louvre, we walked up the Champs Elysees. This is a mini Arc de Triumph.
There is a park right by the Louvre that has cafes. It was really pretty.

Champs Elysees. It was also very crowded.
There were protestors shouting in French. We have no idea what they were protesting.
The giant Louis Vuitton store.

The Arc de Triumph.






The stairway going up.
Before you go to the roof, there is an open area with a gift shop and a gallery.

This is a life size replica of one of the statues on the side of the Arc.
There is a mini Arc there.
Looking down the Champs Elysees




Looking towards the La Defense area.

In the gallery, there was a camera looking straight down below the Arc. When we went back down, we had to find the camera and wave up at it.
The stairway going down.
The tomb of the unknown solider.
We went back a couple of nights later to get a night shot.