Fabulous France Dec 2016 (Day 4): Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Musée de l'Orangerie, Christmas market along Champs-Élysées & Arc de Triomphe

Day 4 was a super packed day for us. We started off with Notre Dame- but we made the mistake of taking too long to see the interior, and forgot to start queuing outside to climb the tower! Arrrgh. So we had to skip that, as the queue was too long and it was too cold to be standing in line for such a long time. Super disappointed. To this day the boy still talks about missing the climb to see the gargoyles! :(

Our next stop was another church- Sainte-Chappelle, on the Île de la Cité. My son said, "Another church??" Welcome to Europe, my child. Haha! Anyway, this church was really unique- with lower and upper levels- and fantastic stained glass windows on the upper level. We had fun trying to spot scenes and characters on the stained glass windows- and yes, it is harder than it sounds!

We then made our way to Musée de l'Orangerie, catching a bus to Place de la Concorde and walking from there. I remember the short walk from the square to the museum being such a fun one- some of our best family photos on the trip were taken there. We were just goofing around with the selfie stick and enjoying the wide, open space.

We then explored the Christmas market along Champs-Élysées, and tried some mulled wine and churros. Yummy!

Our last destination - Arc de Triomphe, the famous landmark honouring those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. We made it to the top- which wasn't exactly easy! So glad that I finally got to do this.

What a super long day!

View of the Eiffel Tower from the top of Arc de Triomphe 

(super zoomed in, of course!)