LFMSS Europe 2012: Paris - City of Many Things To Do

Our last day in Paris was full. But not rushed, just comfortable. By the end though, people were referring to what we had done in the morning as having happened yesterday. Even I was thinking that. Rens took us to Sainte Chapelle for our appointment there at 9:30 AM. Sainte Chapelle is a small (compared to Notre Dame) chapel built to house the Crown of Thorns that Louis IX had purchased. Saint Louis wanted an appropriate setting for such an important relic - and he got it. The chapel is a wonder of gothic architecture, with 6500 square feet of stained glass showing over 1100 different scenes from the Old and New Testaments. It's like being inside a lantern, but the light comes from outside, not inside.
Next we walked through the Latin Quarter - Paris' only remaining medieval area, and the place where the University of Paris has resided since the middle ages. It's the Latin Quarter because in the Middle Ages all academics were taught, written, discussed in Latin. The kids had lunch here - it is packed with reasonably priced restaurants - some even had crepes and French onion soup. Mr. Johnson and I opted to walk to the Jewish District, at Bresett speed, in order to eat a falafel at L'as du Falafel - best falafel sandwich in the world. Literally. And recommended by Lenny Kravitz! It was worth the walk. Mmmm... I'm wanting another one right now. We actually got the first two falafels of the day - they literally serve thousands in a day.
Off to Versailles, a little bit out of Paris. The Chateau de Versailles is an enormous, ornate palace surrounded by enormous, ornate gardens. I guided a tour (for those who stayed with me!) through the palace - talking about the fascinating history of Louis XIV - the Sun King, and Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. Really, the idea of modern houses, with all the conveniences, entertainment, etc. within the walls of where you live comes from palaces like this. You may have a media room in your house. Louis had a full theatre for live opera. In his house. Just a modern convenience back in the 17th century.
Back to Paris, for bonus trip number one - the Catacombs. Deep under Paris is a winding network of former Roman stone quarries. In the late 18th century, Paris decided to get rid of the huge cemeteries taking up all the valuable land in the city, and move the bones down into the quarries. As you walk through these tunnels, you realize that each of these skulls belonged to a person who was once a living, breathing Parisian.
With more time before our dinner reservation, I opted to take the group to the Pantheon - the great secular temple dedicated to the glory of France. Huge paintings of important French men and women (St. Denis, St. Genevieve, Joan of Arc, Charlemagne) surround the central dome, from which Foucault's pendulum swings. He used the pendulum in 1851 to prove the rotation of the earth. And it's still there, still swinging.
After a satisfying dinner at the haute-cuisine Rivoli Self-Service Restaurant, we headed up the Eiffel Tower to enjoy the high winds and amazing views over the city of lights. It was a long day, and we get up early tomorrow to head to the east where we will visit Verdun and then sleep in a castle in Bacharach. Good night.