The Religious Day

Our first stop yesterday was Notre Dame! We met up with my parents around 9:45 in front of the church, and got in a line even though we didn't know what the line was for (not always smart). We come to find out that the only line for the church was to go up to the towers, which we weren't entirely interested in. Luckily for the church itself there wasn't a line, so we just walked right on in.

Twinning

I forgot how massive this church is! Both inside and out. Not only that, but both the exterior and interior are impressive in their own right! The exterior has so much Gothic architecture detail. The interior is a little more plain, but is decorated with beautiful stained glass windows and colorful chapels behind the alter.

I will say that Adam is pretty bummed that we didn't make the Quasimodo Meet and Greet, but maybe next time!

After Notre Dame, we headed in the direction of the Holocaust Deportation Memorial, which is right behind Notre Dame. But we did get a little side-tracked when we noticed one of the two famous lock bridges - Pont de l'Archevêché, which is in between both monuments. It's pretty crazy how many locks are on this bridge, and the city has yet to take these ones down (although apparently they have already done so at the other bridge - Pont des Arts, which we might get to see today!).

Next up was the Deportation Memorial. This memorial is dedicated to the 76,000 French Jews that were deported to concentration camps during World War II. It was a very quiet and somber memorial.

The light represents hope

Next, we walked over to the Holocaust Memorial, which was also very sobering.

Names of people who helped the Jews

Names of the Jews who were deported from France

After lunch, we then stopped by Sainte Chapelle to check out its beautiful architecture and stained glass windows. This church is also absolutely beautiful, with the ceilings just as stunning as the dozens of stained glass windows!

After Sainte Chapelle, everyone was in need of some rest. So we all went back to our apartments to re-energize. Later in the day, we all met back up for a picnic happy hour in Luxembourg Garden before ending the day with some delicious pizza and pasta!