Day 2: Le Musée du Louvre, l’Arc de Triomphe, Les Champs Élysées, et La Tour Eiffel

Julie and I started our first full day in Paris with a 7:30 wake-up and a quick chocolate croissant for breakfast, which we ate on the subway to the Louvre Museum. We exited at the Palais Royal Musée du Louvre stop and were immediately hit with a stunning first sight of the museum entrance upon surfacing.

At this point, although still chilly and cloudy, it was not raining so we were able to walk around the courtyard a bit, which was equally gorgeous. It was mind-blowing to see the glass pyramids in person — the famed site of so many stories and films.

We got in line to go inside at around 8:45 when it was actually not as crowded as usual. Still, we waited a solid hour in line, but got to look at an amazing view all around.

We got started in the exhibits just after 10, kicking off with 11th – 15th century Italian Sculptures, then moving up to the 16th – 19th century ones, in which the highlight was definitely the statue of Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss — incidentally my favourite myth. For a piece of marble, it seemed to pulsate with palpable energy. We then moved on the Ancient Greek and Roman sections, where my hours of memorizing Edith Hamilton Mythology in high school really paid off. It was amazing to be able to look at a statue’s name and recognize the story behind the captured scene. I absolutely adored the halls of statues upon statues depicting the Olympians and scenes from the myths. We exited this section and were faced with the breathtaking Victoire de Samothrace sculpture placed right at the top of the stairs, which was one of my personal highlights of the entire museum.

From there, we went through Italian Paintings from the 13th – 18th century, which included the Mona Lisa, and then to French Paintings from 19th century, which was one of my favourite rooms. We got to see paintings I’d been learning about throughout all of grade school, such as The Rape of the Sabine Women and Liberty Leading the People. Following this, we passed by the gorgeous Venus de Milo and stopped for a lunch break.

After lunch, we headed to the original foundations of the first Palais du Louvre at the very bottom floor and walked around, then headed up to the Galerie d’Apollon, my favourite room in the building.

Every inch of this room was irreplaceable art, from the door handles to the walls and ceiling itself.

We walked around a bit around the bronze sculptures and then headed down to the Mesopotamia section where art from thousands of years B.C. was displayed. There were decorated bowls, miniature statues, seals, and even the first statue of a human — the oldest artifact in the museum.

Finishing up, we ended up in the most beautiful section of the Louvre, in my opinion, and my personal highlight of the day: the courtyards.

Featuring French sculptures from the 5th – 19th centuries, everything was stunning and the organization was so open and well-lit, surrounded by trees. Most of the statues were based off Greek and Roman mythology, so I could recognize the figures and their stories.

Overall, it was just beautiful to walk around the building itself. The doors and entrances and ceilings and garden were as much as a work of art as the pieces displayed.

We left the Louvre around 4, and took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe.

We then proceeded right down the Champs Élysées, despite the steady rain, and walked along the main avenue for several blocks, stopping once for macarons at Ladurée (one rose and lychee and one Marie Antoinette tea flavour). I’ve never tasted any macarons like those and they obviously went far too quickly.

There was a line to get into the boutique itself and all the pastries looked like works of art.

After walking around the side streets for a bit longer, we stopped a café for some hot drinks.

As we walked around the area afterward, intending to head back to the main Champs Élysées avenue, we stumbled around a corner and I was met with my very first sight of the Eiffel Tower at last! We walked past the Seine and along a tree-lined boulevard path all the way to the base of the tour.

Since the lines to go up were quite long around this time, we headed down the Champs des Mars and stopped for dinner at a corner restaurant, where I had an escalope milanaise with spaghetti.

It was around dusk when we headed to the streets once again, heading in the direction of the Hotel des Invalides, which was a rather short walk away.

As the sky had darkened fully by then, we headed back to see the Eiffel Tower in its fully lit glory, a stunning sight that I feel every person should witness in person at least once in their lifetime. The only benefit to the constant rain was the reflection of the tower’s lights off the the wet cobblestone.

For 4 euros, we walked up two floors of the Tower and witnessed Paris by night.

After a very long subway ride back, we arrived home at 12:15, ending the most exhausting but wonderfully packed day in Paris.