Trip Motivation
In May 2022, our family took a fun trip to Paris. On our second day in Paris, we visited the Sainte Chapelle Cathedral, Musee D’Orsay and the Montmarte area. Read more about our day!
Read all of our Paris posts at the following links:
- Flight details (free using points!) Jetlag with kids, packing tips, and more.
- Hotel stays: Versailles, Hyatt Paris (free using points!) & Disney
- Itinerary and Logistics (phone, metro, language)
- Versailles Palace and Gardens & an awesome Chartres light show
- Paris Day 1: Eiffel Tower, Arch De Triomph, Boat Tour
- Paris Day 2: Sainte Chapelle, Musee D’ Orsay, Montmartre (This post)
- Paris Day 3: Louvre, Luxembourg Gardens, Macaron Class
- Disneyland Paris: Best rides, shows and activities
Day 2: Sainte Chapelle Tour, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Montmartre
We took the metro to the Sainte-Chapelle. During our visit in May 2022, there was security around the area due to a trial occurring next door. If you’re visiting soon, note that we had to show our passports to the police at the street barricades. After waiting in line next to tour groups, we were finally let in for our 9am appointments at 9:30. The admission was included with our Paris Museum Pass but we needed timed reservations. This church was absolutely gorgeous. I had been researching for several months so had an idea of what to expect but Ben and the kids were absolutely blown away. The stained glass told stories from the bible and there were English handouts with descriptions. There were chairs available to sit while looking at the stained glass. Our total visit time was around an hour.
After our visit, we walked towards the Notre Dame cathedral. Although still closed, the exterior was awesome to look at. We then walked through the Latin Quarter, ate some baguettes and cream puffs, and other snacks and walked 45 minutes towards the Musee D’ Orsay.
Our admission to the Musée d’Orsay was also included in our museum pass. There were no pre-booked times so we stood in the ticketed line to the left of the entrance. The building that the Orsay museum is in is itself really cool. The big open hall used to be a train station. There were a lot of sculptures and interesting paintings on the first floor. There was a cute little exhibit that showed some parts of Paris in miniature form in a glass beneath us. In the far back area, we took stairs up to the top floor where we saw recognizable pieces from famous artists such as Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir and Cezanne. One of our friends recommended that we look for the Degas sculptures and recreate the dancer poses. The kids had a blast doing this! A fun way to keep their interest.
We took time off in the afternoon to rest in the hotel room. The kids built forts, I watched some TV on my phone, and Ben went for a run. Later in the evening, we took the Metro to Montmartre. Sacre-Coeur is a beautiful church with nice views of Paris. If we had arrived earlier, we could have climbed up to the Dome but it was closed by the time we arrived. There is a gondola-style ride that can take you from the base to the top but we decided to walk. If you’re traveling with kids, there is a small train that can take you on a guided tour of the area. This is also the part of town with Moulin Rouge and other adult sites that we didn’t visit on this trip. In the area near the church, there was a cute small playground and a carousel. After our sight-seeing, we ate some dinner in the area and took the train back to our hotel.
More Paris Posts
Read all of our Paris posts at the following links:
- Flight details (free using points!) Jetlag with kids, packing tips, and more.
- Hotel stays: Versailles, Hyatt Paris (free using points!) & Disney
- Itinerary and Logistics (phone, metro, language)
- Versailles Palace and Gardens & an awesome Chartres light show
- Paris Day 1: Eiffel Tower, Arch De Triomph, Boat Tour
- Paris Day 2: Sainte Chapelle, Musee D’ Orsay, Montmartre (This post)
- Paris Day 3: Louvre, Luxembourg Gardens, Macaron Class
- Disneyland Paris: Best rides, shows and activities
