The Lady and The Church

We set out Thursday morning to further explore Paris and its Marais district, a neighborhood that somehow manages to feel both historic and modern. The Marais stretches across the 3rd and 4th arrondissements, two of Paris’ 20 municipal districts. These arrondissements wind outward like a spiral, beginning at the center of the city on Île de la Cité. Each arrondissement has its own distinct personality. The Marais is known for its medieval streets, boutique shops, Jewish heritage, and a lively food scene.

Our destination this morning was the Musée Carnavalet, a charming museum dedicated entirely to the history of Paris. It’s housed in two adjoining mansions, one of which, the Hotel Carnavalet, dates back to the Renaissance. The museum first opened in 1880 and has been collecting everything from Roman artifacts to royal portraits to the coolest 19th-century shop signs ever since. It’s one of those places where you feel the historical layers of Paris unfold as you walk through its rooms, each era represented in thoughtful detail. This delightful little museum offers the perfect immersion into the history of Paris. I highly recommend this as an addition to the more famous museums of the city.

That afternoon, we met our guide, Bea, for a private tour of the Louvre. There’s simply no way to prepare for the overwhelming vastness of this museum. Originally built in the late 12th century as a fortress by King Philippe Auguste, remnants of that medieval castle, including its more recently discovered and unearthed moat, remain beneath the complex. After centuries of expansions, revolutions, and royal renovations, the Louvre is now the largest art museum in the world, with more than 35,000 works on display and hundreds of thousands more in storage. To put this in perspective, if you spent two minutes at each piece of displayed art, it would take you more than seven weeks – 24/7 – to see everything!

Bea guided us through the French and Italian galleries, where we spent unhurried time with some of the museum’s most iconic pieces. And, of course, we visited the museum’s most iconic female, the Mona Lisa. It was surprisingly easy to get close to her, after waiting for less than five minutes to queue to the front. We also stopped at the Venus de Milo, one of the museum’s most recognizable sculptures. Interestingly, scholars still debate whether she truly represents the goddess Venus (or Aphrodite). Some argue she may instead depict Amphitrite, a sea goddess worshiped on the island of Milos, where the statue was found.

Bea also pointed out the Galerie D’Apollon, where the crown jewels were recently stolen – in broad daylight during the museum’s open hours. It’s still closed with no announced date to reopen it.

If you can plan your visit, mid-afternoon on a day the museum stays open late is ideal. We nearly had entire galleries to ourselves. However, the crowds increased with a vengeance after dinner.

After the Louvre, we headed toward a restaurant with great reviews online only to find they were closed due to a private event. Luckily, we found Bistrot Richelieu with availability right next door. Our meal was outstanding – classic onion soup, warm Camembert on rustic bread with onion jam, and a French-style cheeseburger that could rival any gourmet burger back home. A fantastic end to a full day.

On Saturday, we met up with our dear friends, Chuck and Kathy, for a walking tour of Île de la Cité, the historic heart of Paris. Long before the grand boulevards, palaces, and museums, this small island in the Seine was home to the ancient Parisii tribe and later the Romans. It’s considered the birthplace of the city, and many of Paris’ most important institutions, from its royal palace to its courts and prisons, were once located here.

We made a quick stop at the iconic Shakespeare and Company bookstore – founded by a woman in 1919 and a common hangout for American writers like Hemingway and James Joyce. We then made our way to Notre Dame to join the line for entry. “Line” might be too simple a word, as we waited nearly two hours! However, the payoff of seeing the inside of this beautiful cathedral again was worth it.

Having last visited Notre-Dame in 2017 and before the devastating fire in 2019, our memory of the interior was of a space so dim and soot-darkened that photography was nearly impossible. To step inside now is to step into something reborn. The once-blackened pillars are bright again, scrubbed clean to reveal their pale stone. Light floods the nave, guiding your eyes upward to the vaulted ceilings, where the stained glass windows scatter jeweled prisms across the floor and walls. The transformation is nothing short of breathtaking and a powerful reminder of both the endurance of history and the beauty that emerges from restoration. Our guide pointed out the Pietá statue of Mary cradling Jesus’ crucified body, and specifically Jesus’ open hand with a black substance cradled in it. Lead had melted during the fire and landed in Jesus’ cupped hand! The restoration crews decided to leave it in place, as a visual reminder of both the devastation and miracle that the statue – as well as so many other historical elements, including all of the magnificent stained glass – had survived the fire.

The large gold disc is fairly new to the cathedral and is used to display the crown of thorns, reported to be the actual crown Jesus wore during his crucifixion. King Louis IX acquired it in 1238 from the Latin Emperor Baldwin II in Constantinople, for an enormous sum of money – the equivalent of half the royal annual budget at the time. The crown was sadly not on display during our visit.

We then made our way to Sainte-Chapelle, admiring its exterior from the courtyard. Even from outside, the delicate Gothic spires hint at the treasure within – its famed dome of stained glass windows. Afterward, we ended our morning with a lovely lunch at La Rose du France Brasserie in Place Dauphine, one of the most tranquil squares on the island. Tucked away from the crowded streets, it feels like a secret corner of Paris hiding in plain sight.

We strolled back toward our hotel in the late afternoon, doing a little window shopping along the way. After all the walking (and standing in lines), we were more than ready for another early evening.