River Seine, Île de la Cité and Notre Dame de Paris

We were up early and decided to take a walk around the area while looking for a coffee shop to have breakfast.  We got to River Seine in just a few minutes and were just in time to see the beauty of the sky during sunrise.

We weren't able to pass by any open coffee shop on this early Sunday morning so we just continued walking. 

View of Île de la Cité from one of the bridges over River Seine
One of those love lock bridges in Paris.  I guess this one is somewhat new as it's still not full of locks.

It was still early for the mass at Notre Dame Cathedral so we went to Eiffel Tower first.  We got back at around 11AM, dropped by Fontaine Saint-Michel and still had some time to take some pictures outside and inside the cathedral before attending the mass.  The 11:30AM Sunday mass is an international mass but it's still celebrated in French.

Fontaine Saint-Michel

Notre Dame de Paris

Ceiling of the cathedral

After the mass, we went back outside and looked for the entrance to the tower.  We started to the right (facing the church) of the cathedral.

We saw a restaurant named Esmeralda
near the back of the cathedral

As we were going back to the front, round the cathedral (this should be the left side when facing the cathedral), we saw the line going to the tower.  It was long enough that we decided not to go up.  There's only a limited number of persons allowed to go up at a time, and falling in line might mean we have to wait around 2-3 hours for our turn.  We don't have the luxury of time so we just passed up on the opportunity.  For those who want to do this, it might be better to be here early.  Please note that it's 387 steps to the top of the tower, no elevator. 

Sculptures on top of the doorway

Gargoyles in the tower