Tour de France

Literally and figuratively. Cameron and I hit more of the major landmarks in Paris than I thought was possible in 2 days. We arrived around noon on Friday and had to be done sightseeing by around 3pm on Sunday to catch the event!

Basically, we spent from noon to midnight, 9am to 11pm, and 8am to 3pm walking around, waiting in line, or eating. YOLO. Many of these sites and our tour, you can find explained in my previous post about Paris, but I’ll tell you some of the things we did differently!

I wore Cameron out! :)

He and I visited the Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre (the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris), which is a Roman Catholic Church. However, in front is a giant hill of grass where young people, old people, performers, artists, and just about everyone sits to enjoy the beautiful view of Paris. This is said to be one of the spots where you can find the feeling you expect from Paris, and I agree.

We walked through St. Chapelle, a beautiful church full of elaborate stain glass windows. Formerly the host to artifacts from the Passion of the Christ, consisting of a piece of the cross and the original crown of thorns that were acquired by Napoleon, it is now just a very beautiful landmark.

After seeing where they used to be held (and where everyone told us they were held), we went to the Notre Dame to see the artifacts themselves. We saw the relics that appear to contain the artifacts inside vacuum sealed chambers, but who knows if Napoleon actually obtained them or if they are one of his ploys.

A piece of the cross

Container that holds the crows of thorns

Container that holds the crown of thorns

We also saw priceless works of art in the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay, and I want to do a separate post to commemorate those – soon to come!

Finally, the biggest difference was that we saw the actual Tour de France. By pure, random happenstance, we were in Paris for the final stage of the Tour! Cameron and I stood out in the hot sun for three hours to make sure that we had a good spot as the riders made their way into Paris and past the Louvre.

I also got hit by someone's water bottle, so I kept it!

From there, we ran across the Tuileries Garden to catch the riders from different vantage points! In case you don’t know, the riders race ten laps around the Arc de Triomphe down to the Louvre museum – each lap being approximately 7km (4.35 miles). Taking full advantage of the number of passes, Cameron and I spent our first few opportunities taking pictures (one lap taking multiple selfies), and then we spent the rest of the time enjoying the moment and watching the race.

Although we couldn’t see the finish (you had to buy expensive tickets to grandstand seating to do so), we got to see race pass by many times, and the final lap was my favorite. I enjoyed watching the lead pack race by, but my favorite part was the crowd being equally as enthusiastic for the riders in the back of the pack. Every time you thought the last group of riders had passed, the crowd would erupt again for another group of riders. Some would even celebrate with victorious fist pumps to the crowd.

This one might be my favorite!

A group of Norwegians was particularly excitable, coming out strong for the event and celebration. After the conclusion, we walked by their group taking up an entire street corner. They were dancing and singing and celebrating and just living the good life. I don’t even know if a Norwegian was doing well in the race, but they seemed to be loving every second of it.

It was another truly amazing experience that I can attribute to my time here and Europe – one that I was glad I got to share with my brother.