Our last day started out much like the one’s before, with me a touch grumpy without coffee and us up and out the door early. We headed to the outskirts of Paris to Sacre Coeur, another cathedral way high up on a hill which overlooks the city. The famous Montmartre is also there and I was looking forward to strolling though the quaint area.
If you look closely you can see me there on the first level.
Without finding coffee, or food for that matter, we made our way up the steps, to the cathedral. I definitely did not feel bad about how much and what I was eating on this trip as we walked and went up so many stairs that it really wasn’t an issue.
We quickly walked though the interior of the cathedral and then headed to up the tower. We were fortunate that there was no line and after, yep you guessed it, a spiral staircase with a million steps we made it to the very top with yet another beautiful view of the city below.
Mike was trying to mimic the gargoyle you see blending in there.
Self Portrait
At this point I was starving and more then a bit grumpy! The steps up to the top almost did us in. So we went in search of food. This would have been easy because there was an international food and wine festival going on, but we had run out of cash and needed to find an ATM after a few harsh words and getting lost on the very confusing streets heading down away from everything we found a bank and headed back up the giant hill to find food and coffee.
Random windmill we found while lost
On the way back up we found an adorable little bakery with a long line of locals. We figured it had to be good and waited in line for what would be the tastiest croissant and baguette we would have.
After we hiked back up the huge hill and all of the steps with a little food in our tummies Mike insisted we buy a glass of champagne from one of the vendors. It’s amazing how one glass of champagne can turn my mood right around (Mike is smart guy I tell you). After two glasses of wine and I was downright giddy! Who needs coffee anyway? We enjoyed a wonderful stroll though the festival and bought some yummy wine, great olive oil, cookies, which we practically inhaled, and a few gifts for people back home.
Part of the festival before it got super busy and packed with people
The festival ended up being one of my favorite things that we did. I liked feeling like a local and strolling along trying different wines, and things.
We then took the metro to the Musee d’Orsay. I was very much looking forward to this museum as some of my favorite artists have many works housed here including Monet and Degas. We greatly enjoyed walking around this massive museum that was once a train station.
Mike resting his feet
Mike in “hell”
Mike playing with the giant kitty
I liked this statue as it is a mother with her two boys
Me in front of one of my favorite Monet Paintings, Poppies. We use to have a copy of this hanging in our front living room.
After enjoying the museum we headed out to the Champs Elysee for one last walk. Actually we needed to stop at the Disney store to get the boys a gift. How bad is that? I buy two things on the Champs Elysee and its from the Disney Store!
After our shopping and strolling we sat down on a bench in front of the Arc de Triomphe and randomly picked a place for dinner, it was in a section of the city we had yet to visit. So off we went!
We ended up needing to make a reservation as it was a true Parisian restaurant which only starts serving dinner after 7pm. Fortunately it was 6pm, they had one reservation left at 7:15pm , Perfect!! There were numerous cafes around so we enjoyed a coffee and started strolling. We stumbled upon this great little square with fountains and a huge statue. It was a bit drizzly that night, but we still enjoyed walking around.
When we made it to dinner we were starving (seems to be a common theme during this trip), dinner ended up being awesome! Come to find out it is a popular restaurant in that area which is known for their house smoked salmon, french fries, and steak all three of which we greatly enjoyed while dining there. It was a bit interesting trying to figure out the menu as it was the only place we had eaten that didn’t have any English on the menu. Another American couple ended up sitting next to us and they told us that they rent a different apartment every year and enjoy October in Paris. Ok folks, our new life goal is to be able to spend our October’s in Paris when the boys are grown and don’t need us as much. After the best meal we had eaten we headed back to the hotel after stopping at our crepe stand to enjoy one last crepe before our trip home.
The trip home was a long one which including sitting on the tarmac for two hours before the 9.5hr flight and literally running and I do mean RUNNING though the Atlanta airport, but we made our connecting flight home and were welcomed by our Mom’s and the boys at the airport.
It was a trip we will never forget and now that I have gotten Mike to fall in love with Paris like I did way back in 6th grade I look forward to many trips back.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Leave a Reply