Europe: Day 4 {Louvre, Montmartre, & Arc de Triomphe}

I know it's been awhile since my last recap from our Europe trip, but I still have so many pictures I want to share with you. If you've missed the previous recaps, read about our travel days here and our first full day in Paris here. 

Our second day started with breakfast {of course!} before we went to the Tuilerie {sp?} Gardens and the Louvre.

the French really know how to do breakfast: bread, bread, and more bread...yum!

my mom and me at breakfast

at the Tuilerie Gardens outside the Louvre

my parents in the gardens

walking up to the Louvre

le Louvre

After walking around the gardens and taking pictures in front of the Louvre, we hopped on the Metro to go to Montmartre. We opted not to spend the time to go in the Louvre...we'll definitely go on a future trip to Paris, but it just wasn't super high on my "must do" list when we only had a couple days in Paris. 

inside the Metro...I thought this station was kind of cool with all the letter tiles on the walls and ceiling

an old Paris metro sign

Montmartre is an area of Paris that is on a hill, so to get to Sacre Coeur and everything else, you either have to walk up a million steps or take the Funiculaire up the hill. We chose the latter and took the steps down. :)

you can see the stairs on the left

Sacre Coeur...this church is beautiful

the view from the front steps is equally amazing

a guide to the view from the steps

outside the church

Montmartre also has a lot of little shops and a square with a ton of cafes and artists painting. We had a nice lunch outside before walking around and looking at all the artists work. We ended up buying a painting of Notre Dame, but we still have to find a home for it.

colorful tables and chairs at a cafe

After Montmartre, my dad and brother decided to go to a museum {I forget which one!}, while my mom, TJ, and I went to the Arc de Triomphe. Multiple people had told us that we had to go and watch the million lanes of traffic drive around the round-about, and it was definitely worth it. These people are crazy...if you watch it from above, it appears that there are no traffic rules, and it's amazing that there aren't more accidents!

more gorgeous views!

We met back up with my dad and brother for our last dinner in Paris. Another dinner at an outside cafe? Twist my arm! :)

I actually got my brother smiling {a little} in this one

On Thursday {the next day}, we packed our bags and headed north to Normandy {my favorite part of the trip}! I hope to post about either later this week or early next week...stay tuned!

xo, emily