Josh and Blake we both exhausted from their big days the day before. I figured they really wouldn’t care about the Louvre and so Rusty and I stayed back in the morning while Halle and everyone else went to the Louvre. And I’m so glad we stayed. The boys slept until 10:15!Halle and company quickly hit the highlights at the Louvre, walked across the lock bridge and then met us at Notre Dame. I discovered an app called Duck the Line that allowed us to pick a time to climb to the top instead of waiting in line all morning. It was heaven. We walked right up to the front and walked right in.

We all really, really loved the gargoyles. Halle got a keychain to add to her backpack and I bought a magnet for our fridge.

Halle paid the boys each 1 Euro to pretend they were Hunchbacks while walking down the stairs. Here’s Josh going through a little door to the bell tower. He said, “it’s actually a good thing to be a hunchback when you go through this little door!”

Josh also tried to strike it rich by grabbing all the money in the rain gutters. If only his arms were longer! On the way back down the stairs Rusty, who today was feeling a bit better, his around a corner and jumped out and scared Blake. This earned Rusty a kick in the shins.

on to Saint-Chapelle! Love this beautiful little church! But it’s really hard to get a good pic of stained glass. But trust me–it is incredible. A coke and a crepe for lunch? Nothing could be better! And this is how we survived our long Paris days:The rest of us grabbed food from a darling little street lined with restaurants and ate it outside in the square.Next we were headed to the Catacombs, something Halle was really excited to do. Josh really did not want to go, saying the bones would creep him out to much. So, Rusty and the boys went to the science museum while the rest of us went to the Catacombs. But first, a stop at Musse d’Orsay:

Google maps has been giving us fits and so after a giant ordeal we finally made it to the Catacombs. Only to learn that they were closed due to an ongoing strike. We were disappointed but Halle said, “oh well…it’s just a good excuse to come back some day.” She has been the most amazing traveler. She never complains and she is up for every adventure.

Since we had a bit of extra time we decided to go to the Pantheon. Mom hurt her knee a bit on the way over and so we were a little slow in walking. By the time we got there, it was closed. Strike two!We were meeting up with Rusty on the banks of the Seine to do a little river cruise so we started heading in his direction. Approximately one million miles later, through on and off rain, we finally made it. The river cruise was fun. I especially loved seeing Notre Dame from the River. It is so imposing!Auntie squishy kisses!
Last up for our Paris adventure was back to the Eiffel Tower to watch it sparkle. Such a magical sight!

Again, with close to 30,000 steps, Blake was done. Nat and I took turns piggybacking him back home. He also took the opportunity to teach Nat to Floss while we waited for the Metro.