Exploring Notre Dame

With just a few days here in Paris, we want to make the most of our stay without overdoing it for the kids.  We've visited plenty of religious sites while on our Spain adventure, and even though the kids are just about maxed out on churches, we had to go see Notre Dame.

We purchased tickets to board one of the river ferries, and cruised our way down the Seine towards Notre Dame.  Along the way, we enjoyed seeing the river barges that people live on, and wondering what life on a barge would be like.

Along the way, some of the wire fences on the bridges were covered in locks.  Apparently, if you attach a lock to a bridge in Paris, it means you'll be back.  We decided to test this theory, and bought our own lock to attach to the bridge, along with the colorful mosaic of thousands of other locks in all shapes and sizes.

 

Our lock

 

Bryce and Laurel on a lock bridge with Notre Dame looking on

 

The mosaic of locks

Notre Dame was surprisingly easy to get into, mainly because they don't charge admission.  After having come from the Sagrada Familia, and some other amazing places in Spain, Notre Dame wasn't nearly as impressive.  However, when you consider that is 850 years old next year, putting it into that context makes you appreciate it more.  The kids are becoming jaded though, but they did suspend their biases long enough for us to go in and get a quick tour of the inside.  Sue snapped some nice photos: