Our tour guide for the SANDEMANs walking tour is from Colorado and
has been living in Paris for two years, primarily working as a tour guide.
He did a good job explaining the history of central Paris in a fun way.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
We did not go in during the walking tour, but our guide said that Parisians do not like early mornings.
So if we come in the early morning, we should be able to get in without a long wait.

The Pont des Arts bridge, once famous for the tens of thousands of "love locks" chained to its railings,
now has a different look.
The weight of the locks posed a danger to the bridge, so the city removed them and
replaced the railings with glass panels to prevent new locks from being attached.

Arc de Triomphe, at the western end of the Av. des Champs-Élysées

On the lawn of Champs-de-Mars (Field of Mars), a public green space in Paris.

On the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower.
(The top level was closed due to the heat wave in the city.)

Austin often went for morning jogs, and
as a result, he saw more of Paris than the rest of us.
These are some of the photos he sent to our WhatsApp group chat during his runs.
One day, he even jogged all the way to the Eiffel Tower and back.

This is a cropped map of the Paris RER-C commuter train.
It splits into several different directions at its western end,
much like Boston's Green Line, as Austin observed.
To get to the palace, you must take the train heading to "Versailles Château Rive Gauche"
(Rive Gauche means Left Bank).

The new gates at the palace's front courtyard.

The Hall of Mirrors

A bedroom.

A painting of Marie Antoinette and her three children.

The Coronation of Emperor Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David.
This is David's 2nd copy of the painting. The first copy was completed in 1807 and is currently on display at the Louvre.
In 1808, David was commissioned by American entrepreneurs to create a full-size replica.
He began work that year, painting it from memory, but didn't finish until 1822, during his exile in Brussels.
The replica was eventually returned to France in 1947 and is this one hanging in the Palace of Versailles.
 

Our GetYourGuide tour included tickets to the garden which we visited on our own.

None of the large water fountains were flowing when we were there.
Now that I've had a closer look, I can say that the sculptures of the Apollo fountain at the Chimei Museum
in Tainan, Taiwan, are modeled after this Apollo fountain at the Palace of Versailles.

We had lunch at a pretty street not far from the Versailles Palace.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting of "Bal du moulin de la Galette" (Dance at Le moulin de la Galette).
Two days later in Montmartre, we'd see the actual place, the windmill Moulin de la Galette, where he painted this painting.
(Collection at the Musée d'Orsay.)

The white dome of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre was visible
from the 5th floor terrace of the Musée d'Orsay.

Dinner at St. Jacques in the Latin Quarter that served mussels in a bucket.
 

MC went to the Notre-Dame at 8:45 AM and lined up in the queue for folks without reservations.
The line moved quickly; in about 10 minutes she was already inside the cathedral.
And best of all, it was free. Unlike London, Paris did not charge a fee for visiting its cathedral!

Inside the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris.
Bright, white, and shining, as a result of the rebuild after the April 2019 fire.

We visited the Rue Mouffetard Market, one of the oldest streets in Paris.
Our lunch restaurant, La Forge, was located just south of the market,
allowing us to browse the market stalls both before and after our meal.

A fruit vendor at the Rue Mouffetard Market.

Our lunch restaurant, La Forge, serving traditional French cuisine.

Appetizers. The melon next to the prosciutto was very sweet.

Elena and the girls all had chicken salad; they were not fans of duck meat or foie gras.
 

MC and Austin both had duck confit.
It was crispy outside and tender inside—delicious.
Even the accompanying sautéed potato was excellent.
 

In the crowded Louvre Museum.
This was as close as I could get to the Mona Lisa.

Wedding Feast of Cana, the biggest painting (6.77 m × 9.94 m) in the Louvre,
is in the same room as the Mona Lisa.
It depicts a wedding where Jesus converted water into red wine (at the lower right corner.)
The painting was commissioned by the monks of San Giorgio Monastery in Venice, Italy, to decorate their dining room.
235 years later, Napoleon's French Revolutionary Army plundered the painting as war booty
by cutting it into smaller pieces and reassembling them in France.

In the Louvre, The Coronation of Emperor Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon.
The painting depicted the coronation of Napoleon at Notre-Dame de Paris in 1804.
Napoleon invited Pope Pius VII to attend the coronation in Paris, but he crowned himself.
Then Joséphine was about to be crowned by her husband, Napoleon, not the pope.
This monumental work was commissioned by Napoleon in 1804 and completed in 1807.

LEFT: Eiffel Tower illuminated after dark.
RIGHT: Eiffel Tower sparkled for 5 minutes at the top of each hour.

From the Musée d'Orsay, the Right Bank's illuminated skyline was a beautiful sight at night.
Paris has its own Ferris wheel too.

Moulin Rouge in Montmartre, the famed 19th-century cabaret venue iconic for the French can-can dance.
[Direction: take the metro to the "Blanche" station in Montmartre,
exit to the street level and you'll see Moulin Rouge.]

 Moulin de la Galette, where Renoir painted his "Bal du moulin de la Galette".
This place is now a restaurant.

From the front steps of the Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur, one can enjoy a panoramic view of Paris.
 

Elena bought a painting of Eiffel Tower from this artist in Montmartre.
 

Our lunch spot in Montmartre.

A fruit stall in Montmartre.
We purchased a box of these strawberries. They were as sweet as candy, just as Austin had said.
 

At Galeries Lafayette Haussmann store,
admiring its beautiful dome.
We all purchased souvenirs on the 6th floor.

Our dinner restaurant, Brasserie des Prés, is on the left.
(The French phrase "des Prés" translates to "of the meadows.")
The restaurant on the right, Le Procope, is one of the oldest in Paris,
and it is said that Benjamin Franklin dined there when he lived in Paris.
 

Inside the lovely restaurant, Brasserie des Prés.
 

Both MC and Angelina had Beef Stew With Carrots as the main plate.
 

Austin had Beef Flank Steak.
 

Both Elena and Gabby had the house specialty, VOLAILLE AUX MORILLES.
Braised Chicken with Morel Mushroom in a Creamy Sauce.
Looks like it was a winner.
 

P.S. Have to include this snail photo in Paris because Austin ordered snail appetizers a few times.
He commented that snails served in their shells tasted better than those served without.