Because we were trying to establish a school routine as well as not overextend ourselves, we saw the other iconic Paris sites one or two at a time in the afternoons or weekends.  Abe wasn’t feeling well the first weekend we were there, so he stayed at home while the rest of us went into Paris for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday.  Because of this, Arlie and I ended up visiting the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysée twice. 

Historic Walking Tour

Monday, September 4th, was the first day all of us went into Paris again after that first trip to see the Eiffel Tower.  It was a hot and sunny day and we spent a couple of hours following the Historic Paris walking tour in our Rick Steves guidebook.  During that walk, we saw and learned about: Notre Dame; the Jewish Deportation monument; the booksellers on the Seine; Saint Germain, the district where buildings are still in their middle ages form; the Latin Quarter, where the students that inspired Les Miz barricaded themselves; and the Conciergerie, where the revolutionaries imprisoned the aristocrats during the reign of terror.  The kids’ favorite part was looking at all the vintage posters at the various booksellers on the Seine.  My favorite parts were seeing the picturesque streets and discovering a chapel devoted to Saint Anne, my patron saint, in a church in Saint Germain.  Scott’s favorite was reading the information in the guide book.  

Versailles Gardens

We had planned to go to Lisieux on Saturday, September 9th, to visit the pilgrimage sites for Saint Therese of Liseux as well as her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, who are also saints.   It had been a long week and Scott and I realized it was too much for the family to do because of the train journey schedule and length it took to get there.  I was disappointed, but knew it was the right decision and hoped I will be able to visit another time.  

We headed to Saint Lazare train station thinking we were going to the beach for a relaxing day, only to get there and find out everyone else had had the same idea and we needed train reservations, which we could not get because of how long the line was.  We shifted plans for a third time and decided to go to Versailles.  Thankfully, we had talked to our sister-in-law, Christen, about Versailles earlier in the week and decided to just see the gardens.  It was a beautiful day and we had spent hours at the Louvre the night before which is also a gigantic palace as well.  When we got there, we decided to rent golf carts to tour the garden.  (We had to rent two because you can only ride four people in each one.)  The carts had a built-in audio guide and would tell us about what we were seeing while it was moving.  We stopped at various spots and hopped out for a closer look.  It was just the right compromise for those of us who wanted to see Versailles and those who were tired and didn’t want to spend a lot of energy that day.   

Sacre’ Coeur and Montmartre

The next day, Sunday, September 10th, we went into Paris again to attend mass at Sacre’ Coeur and see Montmartre.  The morning was a difficult one because the kids were arguing a lot, our train was late, and then when we got to Sacre’ Coeur (after mass had started), the security line extended the whole width of the front of the church and wrapped around halfway back across to the other side of the square.  We stood in the blazing hot sun for ten to fifteen minutes and then finally thought to ask if there was a separate door for mass.  The security guard reluctantly let us in, obviously having a hard time believing we were there for mass since we were then twenty minutes late.  

Everyone finally settled down during the liturgy and we were all blessed to be there in God’s presence and with His people.  Sacre’ Coeur is a beautiful building and we enjoyed looking around a bit after the service was over.  After leaving Sacre’ Coeur, we had a delicious meal at a lovely French restaurant and wandered around Montmartre, famous for being an artistic center, and enjoyed watching and talking to street artists who were working in the square.

Sometimes we have to start a new day to reset, and sometimes it just takes a change of activity or a forced focus on something else besides ourselves. The day we went to Montmartre and Sacre’ Coeur ended up being our last trip into Paris and I am happy it ended on a good note and I thank God for it.