Paris - Sacré Coeur, The Louvre, and Rue de Rivoli

We took the Paris metro out to Sacré Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) since it is a bit outside the main city. Its located on the Montmartre summit of Paris which is the highest point in the city. 
It is designed in the Byzantine style and its white gypsum walls actually whitens with age. I learned this is where the term "plaster of Paris" comes from, as the church is actually sitting on hidden mines of gypsum. This area was very crowded and full of tourists. There are also many people just sitting and relaxing. It reminded me a lot of the Spanish Steps in Rome. 

One of the old Metro signs

K's favorite market stand at Sacré Coeur

 The stairs are so steep up to Sacré Coeur and we made a mistake bringing the stroller with us so we took the funicular to the top. Its just a quick ride to the top.

Sacré-Coeur - The green statues on the front are of St. Louis and St. Joan of Arc

This is the view from the steps of the basilica

We asked the children if they wanted to climb up to the dome of the basilica. They all said YES! I was a little worried about L being able to do the 300 tight and claustrophobic steps to the top but she did great! Yes, there are exactly 300 steps the children counted each and every one of them! 

Walking and counting steps

View from the dome

"Mom, I just need to take a little rest, ok?"

We went inside the basilica after we walked down the 300 steps. It really was nothing special inside it is much more appealing on the outside. 

Looking up at the dome

View of the alter

Then we took the metro over to the Louvre museum. This is Europe's oldest, biggest, greatest, and second most crowded museum (after the Vatican). You might not know that it used to be a medieval fortress, for hundreds of years longer than its been a museum. King Philip-Auguste had it built in 1190, to protect Paris from Viking raids. In 1360 Charles V turned it into a royal palace. In the 1600's, Louis XIV moved the monarchy out to Versailles and most of the art collection stayed in the Louvre. In 1793 it was opened to the public after the French Revolution. 

The Louvre

This is a small part of the Tuileries Garden near the Louvre. This garden is a 60 acre park, so its sort of the Parisian Central Park or Hyde Park. It was created by Catherine de Medicis for the palace but was eventually opened to the public. It features pools, fountains and lots of old statues. 

Tuileries Garden

We started our walk back to the apartment down Rue de Rivoli which we nicknamed, "Ravoli." This is a famous street that Napolean named and created for his victory at the Battle of Rivoli. The children were asking constantly to just take the metro back to the apartment but Joe said, "no" we are in Paris lets walk the streets. It brought back memories when Coach A made us all walk 30 blocks in Ocean City! 

Rue de Rivoli

It rained a little on and off but luckily we had no downpours. We made it back to our apartment and had a late dinner that we picked up at the supermarket.