Our morning started off with us listening to our dear neighbours upstairs playing musical chairs with elephants. I do think bird song would have been more pleasant. We left the hotel about 11am in search of some breakfast. I was hoping to grab something quick from a bakery because of our late start but mother insisted on us having a sit down meal. We were staying in Montmartre, the artisans district of Paris, which is sat on a high hill over looking the entire city. We wandered up the hill in the general direction of Sacré-Cœur, a church sitting on top of the hill and eventually settled for a small café on a tiny street corner. The kitchen wasn't yet ready, but we managed to get a coffee while we waited (Hot chocolate for Mum). We were soon told that we were only able to order from the omelette menu, which was fine as it fit in to the French cuisine box. While we were in the café a French man walked in with his friendly dog. He came over for a pat (The dog that is) while we waited for the omelettes then ran back to jump up and give his owner a kiss. Cute dog. The food was great, we wolfed it down and then rushed up the hill to start our day. We had a short perusal of the artists works and nearby markets before heading inside the Sacré-Cœur, a gigantic domed cathedral overlooking Paris.
It was absolutely stunning. Huge open domes and amazing paintings inside. The best part was climbing up the 300 or so steps to the top of the dome and looking out over Paris. I'd go as far as to say it was a better view than the Eiffel Tower. Perhaps it was the day we had, it was sunny and slightly foggy so it made for some spectacular photos. After this we took a quick look in the crypt below the church and then we were off our way.
Next stop was to be the Notre Dame, but as we were quickly running out of daylight hours (It was already 2pm) we decided to take the train down.
Notre Dame is a magnificent gothic cathedral on a small island of the River Seine. Beautiful on the outside and absolutely stunning on the inside, made even better by a live orchestra and choir adding an eerie ambience to the environment. I spent the entire half an hour inside with chills running down my back (And that wasn't because of the cold!).
Next stop was to be climbing the Eiffel Tower. We jumped on the train to try and get there for sunset but gave up when we saw the length of the queue! The night before it had been empty, but we hadn't realised it was still open. So we decided to try this a bit later in the evening when it was dark and jump on a river cruise. After a bit of an argument over which cruise to take. Mum and Katie wanted to take the dinner cruise for €110 but I didn't think it would be good value. As a traveller the best way to experience the local culture is to surround yourself with the locals, not the tacky tourists! So we ended up taking an hour tour for €13. We were planning to climb the Eiffel Tower after this but during the hour on the river it got shrouded in fog.
While this looked cool from the ground it wasn't the most ideal weather for us to be climbing it as we wouldn't be able to see anything! After this disappointment we had a nice sit down dinner afterwards in a Parisian Café. On the way home we picked up some chocolate and €5 Bordeaux wine to chill. A nice end to a nice day. What will happen tomorrow?
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