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Published: October 30th 2009
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Bon soir! This is our last day in Paris for a bit (we'll be back on Monday). Today we went strolling around the Montmartre area today. Alot of sex shops, and I mean a lot. But other than that it was nice qauint side streets, little shops, cafes, pubs (there seems to be a rather large number of Irish Pubs here, none of which we have ventured into).
This nice little stroll (the guy at the front desk said oh 15 maybe 20 minutes, when I asked him about a bus) lead us up to the Basilique du Sacre-Couer. What a beautiful church and a beautiful view of Paris. We sat at the base of the hill and had a little picnic lunch. There is a bit of a park here with a carousel, playground, snack/gift shop, park benches. We brought some ham, sausage, cheese, clementines, bread, orange biscuits, and water at the market. (there are delis and cafes too) Pigeons and little sparrows galore, but so darn cute you couldn't help but feed them. Little kids chasing the pigeons which was very entertaining. They would get as close as they dared and just stare up at you till you
throw a bit of bread their way.
After lunch we headed up the hill via more stairs. (did I mention there were stairs?) Halfway up to our dismay we found out that there is a tram that will take you up and down the hill. The tram ends at the base of the Basilique and is on the North side of the park. The Basilique is a beautiful church. From the church you can see all of Paris, our view was obstructed a bit by the overcast skies and fog. The inside of the Basilique is georgous with statues of saints, Mary, and Jesus. The mosaics and stained glass windows are beautiful and so detailed. Sorry there are no pictures as cameras are not allowed inside the church. We strolled around taking it all in, we even sat in the pews for a bit, this afforded us a wonderful view of the huge mosaic over the main alter and the statues of the angels that are at the base of the dome.
As we were seated the bells started to ring, ringing for a good while too. Making our way outside to the rear of the church where
the bell tower was located we took in the grotesques that adorn the outside of the church. This lead up to more little side/back streets and to another set of stairs. Lucky for us we were going down. We came upon more small side streets with quaint homes, and small stores. Lots and lots of stairs. Again lucky we were going down. Came upon another small park with a small carousel for childern and without the usual horses or various other animals to ride. Instead it was boats, cars, and such. Another church with a great outside, however we didn't venture inside. We contiued to follow the streets down until we got back to Blvd. Pl. du Clichy, following that back to the hotel.
Once back in our room we were overcome with the need for a nap. Did I mention the stairs? We slept for a bit, got up went to dinner at a Middle Eastern Resturant. They start you off with a appatizer dish with olives (green and black), marinated potatoes, carrots, cabbage, mixed veggies, and cucumbers. For dinner we ordered Salmon with Couscous and Mutton with Couscous. Both dishes were very good, with large portions. Enough
Grotesques
Can you find the little guy in the crevice? food for two people per dish.
With dinner done we made our way back to the room to pack as we are off to Versailles in the morning. And as a suggestion invest in good travel books as they are a lifesaver. And if you are ever on the Metro here in Paris the line is identified with a number, to find out the direction you want to go look for the station at the end of the line. These are in black boxes with white lettering on the maps. Until tomorrow Bon Soir!
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