Day 3 in Ole Paree! <3

It's absolutely true when people call Paris the "City of Love" and "the most romantic place on earth." Truly, wherever you turn you see a sweet loving couple, or a fathers affection towards his daughter. It amazes me that somewhere exists that you can see such pure, innocent feelings expressed so beautifully and simply.

I Took this picture yesterday and it captures what I am talking about perfectly. Love is everywhere and it makes me feel so blessed to be able to witness it in such a dignified, harmonius manner.

Today, we didn't go to as many places but we spent longer in the ones we visited. The first place was one of the most astounding things I have ever had the grace to see, an incredible cathedral named St. Chappele, commissioned by one of Frances greatest monarchs, Louis IX, who began construction in 1242 and finished in 1246. 

This entire church was built by Louis to house Christs Relics, most importantly the Crown of a Thorns that he had just purchased from the Ottoman Empire and had brought tonFrance, making them the new chosen people. Its incredible, what Louis created, and in his case it truly was to glorify God, and not to raise himself up. This man, the way they speak of him, was a devout Christian who love agod so much, he personally fought and was killed in the Crusades in 1270. The chapel shown above was for his personal use and contains 1,113 stained glass scenes of different, famous stories from the bible, set in 15 different windows. It is one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen and I will be forever thankful that I had the privilege of seeing it.

We then took a tour of the Conciergerie, which is connected to the above church and where the original royalty in France lived betweent he 500s and the 1300s. It was then used for the military and such until the French Revolution, where it was turned into a prison for people awaiting trial, or, in other words,death by guillotine. Marie Antoinette was held here until she was executed, making it even more famous.

Lunch was our next order of business, and the group split up for it as we had different tastes. Dr. Propses took some to a burger place while mark to me and a couple others to a similar Greek place as the other night with even better schwarma. It was super fantastic.

We then meandered around a bookstore and on into an un credible little church while waiting on the others to finish lunch. It was nearly deserted and just...you can't imagine how incredible these churches are in this place. Walking into them just touches your soul and fills you with awe, something that makes me feel like there is no way in the world you could feel anything but love for God in this place. Prayer is everywhere And faith just reverberates from the walls, making you feel so safe. It's no wonder the cathedrals seem to be my favorite places so far. It's also a bit sobering looking in their chapels, as most of them have one dedicated to the men lost during the Great War. This small parish lost over 300 men, something I could never imagine. It really puts it into perspective,how significant an impact it had on the daily lives of ordinary French people.

Cluny was another church we visited afterwards that is dated tothe medevil time period but with some of the building actually dating back to the roman time, when Rome conquered Lutece, renaming it Paris and buliding their traditional  baths here. It was so fantastic seeing it as well as the large collection of medevil art they had on display.

The Louvre was our next destination, and it was Incredible!!!!! Honestly, I was more impressed by the building than anything as it was a palace for the royalty until Louis XIV built Versailles. So absolutely MAGNIFICENT this place is. I just can't wrap my brain around it. Of course, seeing the actual Mona Lisa was pretty cool too ;)

This is one of the entrances, but does nothing to show the sheer enormity of the buliding.

The statue of Venus that is famous for being the first naked statue of a woman in Greek style sculpture

Does she even need an explanation? 

The above three pictures are just a couple to get the idea...we toured Napoleon III's apartment that he lived in in the Louvre after crowning himself emperor in 1871. These rooms were the most lavish,opulent, ornate, extravagant things I've ever seen in my entire life. After seeing wealth and luxury like this, I can completely and utterly understand how the wealthy nobility didn't have any concept of the poor in the country. In living like this (as the monarchs did long before Napoleon III reign) it would be nearly impossible to relate to people who do not. Such an eye opening experience, going to that huge, famous museum. Paris just does not cease to amaze me!!!

For those of you who remember my last trip to europe, there was a lock bridge in Prague that I spokenof. Paris has the same thing, so I thought I'd share :)

For the last part of the evening, we made our way back to the same restaurant we are lunch in on the first day, which was just as fabulous today, with dessert that was to die for. 

Sorry, no pictures of that. Blame it on my laziness simply because that's the truth. 

Love you all and hope you're enjoying this! 💛