Last Day in Paris

We started off the morning going to Notre Dame Cathedral. Before we entered the church we stopped for a brief group photo and and explaination by Marc of how flying buttresses worked. He also talked to us about the gargoyles, symbolism and the stained-glass windows.

The church was beautiful and everyone took lots of pictures of the famous rose window. As we came out of the church, some chose to walk around the outside to look at the architecture. The kids found a playground behind Notre Dame and spent a few minutes on the preschool toys!

After Notre Dame, we headed for the Louvre. We entered a courtyard and Marc explained the assignment for the day. Everyone was to look at the picture opposite the Mona Lisa (it turned out to be "The Feast at Cana") and try and analyze what was happening. Also, they were to notice particular details that they thought were interesting for later discussion. A further assignment was to pick a picture in the Denon wing of the museum and spend time looking at it so they could explain it to the group.

The Louvre was more crowded than we had ever seen it but everyone had an enjoyable time going through at their own pace. Many commented on how much they loved seeing things like: Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Egyptian exhibit. After the Louvre the kids had free time. They used their metro savvy to travel to various places throughout the city.

We met for dinner together and then headed off to the Bateaux Mouche cruise. We left just as the sun was setting so everyone got great pictures of the major monuments. The cruise was a pleasant ending to our last day in Paris.

Tomorrow we are off early to London!