2016-08-12 Louvre and Notre Dame

I did not know why there was a need to get to the Louvre very early the next day. We lined up and as soon as the museum opened, there was a mad dash into the museum.

Louvre: The World's Largest Museum

People were rushing in to a room to look at the picture below. Now I know why we had to be there early.

Mona Lisa

Yep, I saw it. Pictures cannot do justice to the original. The original has a enigmatic smile and the eyes seem to follow you wherever you move. One thing I notice though is this is a small picture, maybe 3 feet by 3 feet, maybe. And a lot of people crowded to see it. But across this in the room is a larger painting and barely a person is looking at it.

It took us about more than 3 hours to tour part of the Louvre. It is that big and I suspect, you probably need 3 days at least to view most of it.

After lunch, we went to Notre Dame. It is a beautiful church. The sides of the sanctuary has wood carvings on the life of Jesus.

Notre Dame

After this, we went to the Church of the Miraculous Medal. This is where our Blessed Mother appeared to Catherine Labore and tells her to make a medal.

At the bottom right of the sanctuary is the incorrupt body of St Catherine Labore.

After this, we visited the famous Eiffel Tower just to complete our visit to France.

Then on to see the Arc d' Triumph. I believe this is the monument Napoleon built to commemorate his victories or one of them at least.

The bonus is the mass that afternoon. I went to the church beside the hotel and it is dedicated to St Lawrence. It is an old church and it has a relic of St Lawrence.

Relic of St Lawrence