Making the most of our last day in Paris

Our plan was to relax in Paris for a day before flying home. Instead, we spent yesterday scurrying around the city and wore ourselves out completely!

We walked along the Seine, past Notre Dame Cathedral, and headed for Saint Chapelle, which is the chapel of the Palais de la Cite (the residence of the King of France from the 10th to the 14th century).

Saint Chapelle was built between 1242 and 1248, at the direction of Louis IX (later Saint Louis), a  much beloved king who ruled for 44 years.

A spiral stone staircase leads to the upper chapel. At the top stair, the first sight of the enormous hall of stained glass is literally breathtaking. Fifteen nearly floor-to-ceiling windows and a circular rose window account for a larger square footage of window than of the stone structure that supports them.

We stopped for coffee and tarte tatin, then spent several hours at the Shoah Museum. It is huge, thorough, fascinating, and at times, overwhelming. Pictured is an armband that someone in the Warsaw Ghetto actually wore.

After a brief rest at the hotel, we visited the Grand Mosque, and walked along Rue Mouffetard -- one of Paris' oldest and liveliest neighbourhoods. After, we took the metro to the Louvre, where we met our friend Amandine. We had drinks and an appetizer together, then after, Fred and I walked up the Champs-Élysées all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.

Next, we took the metro back to our hotel and had a quick bite at Café Descartes. And that's it. Today we fly back to Vancouver. What a wonderful adventure we had! Hope you enjoyed our account of it. We might do one more post after we get home -- something to sum up our observations during the trip. Stay tuned!