its funny how when things go wrong, they just seem to work out right
So on Friday, we woke up and had our final delicious breakfast at the hostel (oh how i love baguettes and beurre! and pain au chocolat!). then we set off to drop our luggage off at Gare L'Est and headed off to Montmarte. We were following a Paris walks guide my parents gave me around Montmarte to Sacre Couer. For those who dont know, Montmarte is a region in Paris that basically is a hill and on the top is a basilica called Sacre Couer. We took a back way up to the top of the hill area, so the walk wasnt as bad until you get to the stairs. They were unbelievably steep! But once you got to the top... the views of Paris were uncompromisable. You could see the whole city and just look at it for hours, it was mezmorizing. We stopped on the way up at an artist gallery (I later found out that the whole area was full of them) and I bought a pretty watercolor of a cafe in the area. The artist had some beautiful works there, all of Paris and the Montmarte region. We walked up the hill to find TONS of tourists and even more shops, it was a pretty cute area but it was a little too touristy in that area for my taste. We followed the walk to Sacre Couer and admired the outside (made of a stone that cleans itself whenever it rains), and then proceded inside. I found it even more beautiful than Notre Dame, there was a painting on the ceiling above the alter that I admired for at least thirty minutes. Silence was strictly enforced so the whole basilica was very peaceful.
After our visit to Sacre Couer, we continued to walk around the top of the Montmarte area and eventually made our way a little further down the hill where we grabbed lunch and had a chocolat crepe! Yum. Good thing were walking so much. haha On our way to catch the metro back towards the Louvre, we happened to see the filming of a movie scene. It was very cool, but it seemed like a low budget movie about a very odd topic because a little boy in an odd spacesuit was driving a 50s style car (he was not really driving, a truck was letting him roll in front of him attached to a string). When left Montmarte and headed to Rue de St. Honore... aka shopping district! woo!
We walked up and down the Rue St Honore for awhile, it was fun to check out all the shops (from really high end to boutique to a tiny bit shabby) and see all the different fashions! oh, i could probably still be there now. we did stop into a few and bought a few things, but nothing huge. we also stopped into a fabulous chocolaterie and split a chocolat tart! now, that was GOOD! we looked around for some internet cafes, but we obviously did not find them or i would not be writing this now! so we headed to the Louvre since on Fridays after 6pm all those under 26 get in FREE! We saw the big ones, the Mona Lisa, the winged victory, the venus de milo, and hammerabis code. we also saw napoleons apartments which were basically the most lavishly decorated series of rooms i have ever seen! it was funny how in certain areas there were almost too many people to move and how it other places we did not see another person. my favorite thing i saw was napoleons coronation (its a painting of him crowning his wife) by david. i had seen it before in books, but seeing it in real life was just so cool! it was an enormous painting! and the details were magnificent.
after our brief stop in the Louvre, we had our last Parisien dinner (complete with a tarts aux pommes and a creme brulee) and then headed off to the train station to catch our night train to munich. unfortunately, we did not check the tickets and thought the train was taking off at 10:45, but it actually left at 9:45! so we missed it! we ended up spending the next few hours running around trying to get more tickets and reservations for saturday (today) morning. luckily we got some for the first train out and arrived in munich by 2 today! we did have to stay in another hotel last night, but this mishap has allowed us to think about a trip as a whole and ill just say that there may be a change of plans awaiting you readers in the future. i will not say any more on that subject, but i will say the work is in motion. so you shall see!
in the end, all i have to say is that of my first paris entry: i love paris! i loved the people, the language, the food, the sites, the culture... just all of it! it has been a great first 6 days in europe and i look forward to the remainder!
what a wonderful adventure! love your writings about Paris, art, Normandy (and your wonderful comments about our brave military who give their lives in service)..glad you got a train to Germany ok and what an interesting country. I would love to meet Hans, your Normandy guide...a great character!! lots of love!! G and O
Grammie and Obie
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what a wonderful adventure!
love your writings about Paris, art, Normandy (and your wonderful comments about our brave military who give their lives in service)..glad you got a train to Germany ok and what an interesting country. I would love to meet Hans, your Normandy guide...a great character!! lots of love!! G and O