Day Five - Paris - Gargoyles and Jim Morrison

The wait in the line to climb up Notre Dame is worth it. Plus, the climb up isn't nearly as bad as Il Duomo in Florence and the gargoyles are pretty darn cool. And lovely views of Paris to go with them.

We stayed at the top a long time. We lost our minds and went a little photo crazy.

After Notre Dame, we went to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. What a beautiful, peaceful, sad place. I think I could've spent an entire day wandering around here, getting lost, stumbling upon the most amazing graves.

I'm not a huge Doors fan, but I don't think you can go to Pere Lachaise without going to Jim Morrison's grave, and boy am I glad we did. Clearly, the cemetery did not revere Mr. Morrison so much that they gave him any prime real estate; his grave is awkwardly crammed directly behind a large crypt. Of course, over the years that crypt has basically been ruined by people trying to climb over and around it to catch a glimpse of Jim Morrison's grave, which is unfortunate. But the crypt has not been removed and still makes it a little inconvenient for all the tourists.

Jim Morrison's grave

A tree out in front of the grave has become the more accessible memorial.

Oscar Wilde's bizarre Egyptian-winged-man grave with all the lipstick kisses was another highlight. Gertrude Stein had a disappointingly modest grave. I was hoping her final resting place would feel more, well, Gertrude Stein-y.

After spending way too much time at the train station buying tickets to Bruges, we rushed over to Musee D'Orsay which was open late that night. The old converted train station was an amazing art museum. I liked just sitting and resting my tired feet in the center of the building and looking up and around.

The museum holds beautiful Van Gogh's. One of his haunting self portraits was my favorite. There were also Degas and his ballerinas, Renoirs, and Monets. This museum is a must see if you are an art fan in Paris.