Back to Paris!

(Pictures: Eiffel Tour, Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, view from the dome of Sacre Couer with the Eiffel Tour in the distance, a field of grape trees in the Clos du Montmartre vineyard, the Moulin Rouge, one of the many cool Metro signs in Paris, the view from my hotel room - the Eiffel Tour at sunset with the Hotel des Invalides in the foreground)


As I'm writing this, I'm looking out my window at the Eiffel Tour, aglow with thousands of golden lights as night is falling over Paris. This has to be the best view from any hotel room I've ever had. Ever.

Today began at the early hour of 5am! We had a very early breakfast, loaded our luggage and said "Au revoir!" to The Fleur and her crew by 6am. Some of our group members had a 10:30 flight so we had to make the two hour bus ride back to Paris very early in order to get them there on time. About half the group was heading home, the other half was extending their visits and doing a variety of things. Some were staying in Paris longer, others were going to Strasbourg, some were going to Germany, and two were even taking the train to Istanbul! I certainly was spending time with a bunch of globetrotters this week.

After we left the group in Paris, Gramzie and I took a taxi to our hotel. We were in Paris by 8am and our room wasn't ready yet, so we dropped our luggage in storage and headed out. I intended on taking advantage of the early start and getting a full day in! We began making our way to the Eiffel Tour. Unfortunately the forecast is calling for rain the next few days, but the skies were still fairly clear when we got to Paris so we wanted to do the Eiffel Tour right away, before the rain moved in. We got there just in time. It was a bit cloudy when we made our way to the top, but at least the rain held off until later this afternoon. The trip to the top was a lot of fun. The view is, of course, incredible. It was fun to try and find all of the spots around Paris we had visited the week before. I posted several pictures, but I got a couple of, what I think are, cool shots that I wanted to share!

After the Eiffel Tour, we took the metro back to our hotel to check in. We did a little bit of settling in, and then headed back out to see more of the city. Our hotel is near the Sorbonne, the top university in France. We ate lunch at a cute little outdoor cafe very near our hotel. I had a delicious bowl of French onion soup, and a salad of field greens, smoked salmon, tiny shrimps, cucumber, tomato, and avocado, in a mild cocktail sauce dressing. It was great! Filling but refreshing.

After we'd revived ourselves over lunch, we took the metro to Montmartre. Montmartre is a very cool neighborhood on the northern most edge of Paris. It is set on a steep hillside, and on top is Sacre Couer, a church and one of the most recognizable landmarks in Paris. The church is very unique looking, and to me, almost looks more like a mosque than a Catholic church. The fact that it has domes instead of traditional steeples is what, I think, sets Sacre Couer apart from the other cathedrals in Paris. I made the 300 step climb to the top of the dome (Gramzie sat this portion of the adventure out) and saw another incredible view of the city. Despite the clouds, a lot of landmarks could be made out in the distance, including the Eiffel Tour.

We spent the afternoon doing a self-guided walking tour through Montmartre, browsing in many of the cute little shops that are scattered throughout the neighborhood. We ended by passing by the famous Moulin Rouge. This was a fun site to see. Obviously the movie has made it very well-known, and the Moulin Rouge and its windmill are now a trademark symbol of Paris. We then hopped on the metro and went back to our hotel. We ate at another cafe for dinner. I wasn't too hungry after the big salad I had for lunch, so I had a crepe with ham, cheese and egg for dinner. It was simple but very tasty.

It was a marathon day of sightseeing and I think I finally wore Gramzie out! Tomorrow will be another packed day so check back to read about it!