1st Arrondissement

Saturday, we went back into the city for a day of fun. We had decided to break our trips up into the neighborhoods or "arrondissements" and see a little each time. Today we visited the 1st and started at the Louvre. We didn't go in this time because it is free the first Sunday of each month and knowing that it will take several trips have decided to go for a little each month. Unfortunately, I can only show you pictures from about half the day because I forgot to charge the batteries....

We then visited two of the medevial churches found in the city. St Germain l'Auxerrois whose foundations stones are from the 1000's (the history here just boggles our young American minds) and St Estache which they say is only rivaled by Notre Dame. The pictures are from St Estache and the statue in the courtyard supposedly has its "ear to the ground of all happenings in Paris".

This stain glass portrays St Anthony and St Andrew together--so had to get a shot.
We visited the massive, multi-level, underground shopping mall of Les Halles and took a spin on their carousel.

We lunched at Joe Allen (in honor of my dad, of course) and visited the Anglo hotspots Thanksgiving (where you can purchase many American grocery items) and the Red Wheelbarrow bookstore (English books, literature and newspapers). We then encountered the fountain of Innocents where early Parisians received their clean drinking water.

Had some fun in the Jardin du Tulleries....

Visited the Place de la Concorde and paid tribute to Monsieur Guillotine and Marie Antoinette...

and then gorged ourselves on mini-macaroons from the world famous tearoom Laduree.

Quite a full day for the short people. But oh so much fun to be apart of one of the most amazing cities in the world. Days like this make up for the struggles of everyday life.