After a long night/morning of traveling, we made it to Paris, France! We explored three popular sites today: Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and the Conciergerie.  I would highly recommend a Paris Museum Pass, which can be purchased at most tourist information booths.  The pass allows you to skip ticket lines (although there will still be long lines for entry regardless) and saves money if you’re going to visit many of the popular attractions in Paris.  To find out more about the Museum Pass and which attractions it applies to, click here.

NOTRE DAME

The hotel we are staying at, Hotel des Deux-Iles, is located just blocks away from Notre Dame Cathedral.  Due to poor timing, the lines were incredibly long, so we didn’t go into the Cathedral.  Instead, we stopped for a picnic lunch and ate on the right side of the surrounding grounds, parallel to the Seine River.  The atmosphere is lovely and there are benches located in the gardens next to the cathedral that make a perfect lunch spot.

SAINTE CHAPELLE

This cathedral is a MUST-DO in Paris.  It doesn’t take very long to walk around this stunning Gothic style chapel.  It’s barely a five minute walk from Notre Dame, and the stained-glass windows will take your breath away.  The chapel is a part of the Palais de la Cite, where the Kings of France lived, up until the 14th century.  For more information about Sainte Chapelle, click here.

CONCIERGERIE

The Conciergerie used to be a prison in Paris, but is now a beautiful museum located on the Île de la Cité.  During the French Revolution, many prisoners were held at the Conciergerie, and later executed.  Among the hundreds of prisoners, Marie Antoinette spent some of her last days in this building awaiting her death.  Visit the Conciergerie website here to learn more.