Two of the three of us slept very little last night. I practically passed out at 8, but woke up at 12:30. Read for a while, looked at my phone, and tried to sleep, but at 3am, I decided to watch the presidential debate for a while. David woke everyone at 8am and he had already gone out to buy baguettes. We had a wonderful baguette and scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Next we took the metro to the Montmartre section to see Sacre Coeur. Instead of climbing up the many steps we took the funicular. At the top of the steps along the fencing were locks with people's names on them, and sure enough, there was a guy selling locks. A little later, we saw a parks department guy clipping the locks off the fence.
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| On the Funicular |
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| Fence with locks |
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| Guy removing locks |
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| Sacre Coeur |
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| On the steps to Sacre Coeur with locks on fence behind us. |
The Cathedral itself was beautiful, especially the stained glass windows! We had heard that you must dress conservatively to enter Sacre Coeur, but found many people going in wearing all kinds of casual clothing.
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| This and next 9 pictures inside Sacre Coeur |
Then we wandered around the Montmartre neighborhood, admiring the local artists. Next stop was the Montmartre Museum where we saw many beautiful paintings of artists who'd lived in the area, including Renoir, and a special exhibit of the art of Herbin.
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| Around Montmartre - this and next 2 pictures |
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| House from the 16th Century (redone in 1959) |
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| In the gardens behind the Montmartre Museum |
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| Chat Noir (Black Cat), symbol of Montmartre |
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| Part of an artist's apartment in the Montmartre Museum |
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The swing from Renoir's "The Swing".
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In the gardens behind the Montmartre Museum
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We went looking for Place Emile Goudeau, a small square where it was recommended to sit and enjoy a coffee, and we found a small cafe there to do just that. Adele and I had worn a dress/skirt for Sacre Coeur, but by this time, the weather had gotten a little chilly. Luckily we'd both brought along pants to change into and so we both changed. On the way to the cafe, we passed the
Moulin de la Galette, one of the two remaining windmills of the twelve that had once stood in Montmartre in the 18th Century.
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| Moulin de la Galette |
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| Grand Cafe Crema |
Next was the "I Love You" wall, located within Jehan Rictus Garden Square, dedicated to love around the world. The wall has the words "I love you" written in every language. We then headed toward Moulin Rouge, and next to have lunch at a small restaurant.
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| "I Love You" wall |
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| Moulin Rouge |
After lunch, we were on the metro to the Palais Garnier Opera House. The Opera House was absolutely spectacular! Then a quick stop to the Fragonard Perfumery shop. Back on the metro to head to the fashion center of Paris, to go to the Galerie Dior, but there was a very long line, so we left and went back to our apartment!
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| On the Metro, again |
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Outside of the Paris Opera House - Palais Garnier
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| This and next 15 pictures taken inside the Paris Opera House |
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| Fragonard Perfumery |
Back at the apartment we all crashed for a while. Then David went to pick up our rental car for tomorrow. When he got back, we went to dinner at a local restaurant called Restaurant Aux Arts et Sciences Reunis. We have no idea what the name means, but Adele and I met at our HS, Bronx Science, and we are "reunited", so, the name of the restaurant seemed to call out to us!
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| David and I each had this skirt steak (I loved it, he was just ok) |
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| Adele had the beouf bourguignon, which she didn't like |
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| Creme brulee and cheesecake that we all loved!! |
