Au Revoir, Paris

Sunday morning, we woke up early so we could go to mass at Notre Dame. From the outside, the cathedral is absolutely breathtaking, even if it is smaller than I imagined. Notre Dame sits on the first bit of land that eventually became Paris, so the historical value there is pretty cool as well. Inside, though, the cathedral is incredibly impressive. Grey stone walls stretch high above your head, punctured by beautifully coloured stained glass windows. I must confess, I started nodding off because of the early morning, but Mom nudged me awake.

After mass, we walked around the cathedral, taking lots of pictures (which I'll get on the shutterfly site before Monday) and generally staring in awe at the cathedral. We then went to a nearby cafe for croissants, hot chocolate, and coffee, still able to see Notre Dame through the trees. It was a chilly morning, but we huddled under a heater to keep warm.

From there, we walked along the Seine to go to the Musee d'Orsay. I really liked this museum. It may not be as big and important as the Louvre, but it has more modern art, including the impressionists. We saw such famous paintings as The Gleaners, Van Gogh's self-portraits, Starry Night, Whistler's Mother... the list goes on and on. No Picasso, but it was cool. This museum also had some of my favourite sculptures from the weekend. At one point, we split up - Mom and I went upstairs while Dad and Pip stayed downstairs - and didn't find each other again for an hour and a half, but eventually we met up in the restaurant.

After the museum, we did a little bit of shopping before stopping for beers and desserts at a small brasserie. We then took the Metro back to the red-light district and took quick naps at the hotel. It wasn't long before Dad and I got back on the train to drop me off at Charles de Gaulle airport and I was on my way back to Edinburgh.

Paris was lovely, and a city I'm glad I didn't miss while it's so easy to visit. Now, four days later, I'm getting ready to say goodbye to Mom and Dad (Pip left today for Ireland). Dad doesn't want to go home, but I think Mom will be really happy to get back to her own comfortable bed.