Not only is it in the famous museums, but it is also in the numerous places of worship. Notre Dame is one such place, full of beauty in the form of stained glass, great sculptures and paintings. It is an awe-inspiring place and made me pause and ponder the beauty and majesty of my God.
One of the lesser known museums is Musee de Cluny, a wonderful display of medieval art. One of my favorite rooms was a chapel full of stained glass.
There was another huge room full of altar pieces, all intricately carved from wood.
Trying to cram as much as we could into one day, in between museums we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a quick lunch and had (gasp) pizza. I'm a people watcher and these cafes are a wonderful location for doing so.
One thing we noticed about Paris is that there are police officers everywhere and that they are never seen solo. The officers are extremely well-armed and protected. They carry a firearm and baton. They are protected by bullet-proof vests and armor on their shoulders and upper arms.
Personally, I like their cute little hats.
We also noticed that their vehicles for the busy areas of the city are vans and usually have five officers in them. I just can't imagine the Parisians getting that out of control! They drive and park wherever they need to. It's a good thing, because in order to park on the street one's car must be this size
This car is basically square - as wide as it is long! They can actually park perpendicular to the sidewalk and still fit.
I am an ice cream fanatic. I freely admit it. Finding good ice cream is one of my favorite travel activities, so after lunch, we sought out an ice cream parlor which I had discovered from my jaunts through the Fodors Travel forum. And, yes, it was good!
You are probably familiar with The Louvre, home to the "Mona Lisa" and thousands of other great works of the masters. You could spend days in this museum. We spent hours and only caught the highlights.
It is an amazing place full of priceless art....thus a plethora of guards. This picture looks like it is of me, but it's really of the guards in the background. Don't mess with their art!
