Spontaneity between the Arcs

On Wednesday after our class in the Louvre (where I did a fabulous job expounding on and showing the class some of the works of the Le Nain brothers during our discussion of French Baroque painting), Jacqueline, Emma, Rochelle, Jeff and I spent the afternoon wandering, one of my favorite things to do. :)
This is the lesser-known Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel just west of the Louvre. Napoleon had grand plans for several of these triumphal arches all over the city to commemorate the 1805 military victories, but only two were built. This one is the eastern end of the so-called "axe historique" or "grand historic axis"--it's aligned with the Luxor obelisk at Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Grande Arche de la Défense, which will be featured on this blog in the near future.
The Louvre, where I would be setting my sights if I wanted to move up in the world of art museum security. I'll stick to the MOA for now. :) Originally a palace, the first aboveground section was started in 1535 and was added to over the years by various royalty until it was opened to the public as a museum in 1793, during the revolution. The last addition was, of course, I. M. Pei's famous pyramid in 1989. Last year the museum had 8.3 million visitors.
It looks like this. School is just a couple metro stops thataway. >>>
I was able to get a picture without any cars. Skills.
Jeff likes to pose.

Cute...except Emma's pulling an Andra.
We crossed the river to the Latin Quarter (left bank). Not that this is the Latin Quarter. It's still the Louvre. Just trying to transition.
Another beautiful pastry window.
Mmm, look at those luscious berries.
The fountain at Place St. Michel, one of my favorite spots. Put up in 1860, it was part of Haussmann's gentrification and was originally going to be a statue of Napoleon. I like this better.
My first gyro! It tasted better than it looks. Along with bakeries and creperies, shops and stands selling gyros (aka kabobs, Greek sandwiches, doners) must make up half of Paris. In this part of town, they're everywhere. Jacqueline likes to tell the Greek guys she's part Greek and her last name's Andros. I think they have a hard time believing her because of her red hair.
Saint-Séverin Church, begun in the 11th century and containing the oldest bell in Paris, cast in 1412. The first time I walked by (my first day in Paris, when Bro. Welch was taking me to join the group) I hardly noticed it and didn't realize it was a church until we went inside and it was breathtaking.
Get your dose of 15th-century Gothic architecture here!
Stained glass is one of my favorite things in the world. I got lucky--there was some sunshine.

Enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
Love the organ.

A rare spiraly pillar.
An example of the modern stained glass windows on one side of the church. They did the same thing at the Cologne Cathedral where Doris took me, but it was one huge window.
How'd you like to play on that bad boy?
I can't pass up a Notre Dame photo-op.

We got a fun surprise in front of the church...a free show! This wasn't just any street performance--these guys were awesome. I think I got the least cool parts on video. I trust you'll stil enjoy them, though. Sorry the first one's sideways. With my minimal computerish skills, I couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

The familiar Hotel de Ville, where we caught the metro to...
The other Arc, where we finished our adventure with a movie. Great day!
Happy birthday, Doris and Kristin!