Since we had done A LOT of walking the past four days and I knew I had a lot on the agenda, I decided we needed a metro pass for the day. In my desire to be efficient with time and money, I figured out if we rode the metro 8X then it would be worth the day pass. We more than exceded that number.
The day started off in the Montmartre area. The Sacre-Coeur was the first stop. This beautiful cathedral is made of a stone that whitens with age. The inside wasn't as interesting to me as Notre Dame but Sacre-Coeur was finished in the early 1900s. My romantic tendencies thrives on the stories from ages past. We walked around Montmartre hill, visiting sites of painters, writers, and musicians. We stopped by the Moulin Rouge, took a picture, and found the metro again. If you can't tell by my matter-of-fact attitude, it wasn't my most favorite part of the trip. One good thing happened this morning. I discovered macarons. Oh man! A little bite of heaven. Yummy!
Next we headed to the Paris Opera House. We were not going to miss the inside tour today. The theatre was beautiful! My imagination went wild with the story of the Phantom of the Opera. The Chagall ceiling was spectacular. My sense of adventure kicked in while here. I searched for an open door and hoping to get to the ground floor. Found one! We were all taking pictures and enjoying the theatre when we were scolded for entering the orchestra section and informed that we were only allowed to enter two of the box seats. Oh well! The rest of the place was amazing and totally worth coming back to see.
After that we jumped on the metro and headed to the Conciergerie which was part of the former royal palace in medieval times and a prison during the French Revolution. It was quite a sombering thought as we walked through the prison walls, saw the names of the thousands who died, and the former cell of Marie-Antoinette. Rough time in French history.
We walked back near Notre Dame, bought some souvenirs, and then went to the archeological crypt. The crypt was pretty cool. You could see the old Roman foundations and walls. I'm amazed at how much the city had been built up over the years. At this point, I was exhausted. I sank into a chair and fell asleep while the others finished the museum. After that, we walked through the Latin Quarter to Sanite-Sulpice. Now this was an awesome cathedral. Apparently you can go on Sundays to their organ concert and then get a tour of the actual organ. We couldn't do this on Sunday but I plan on doing it the next time I'm in Paris. For those who have seen the movie The Da Vinci Code, part of the movie was filmed here. Luxembourg Gardens were next on the list. I enjoyed seeing locals enjoying a nice afternoon and my feet enjoyed the break as well.
Dinner was quite the adventure tonight. A friend from work recommended a place and I decided to follow his recommendation. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was at least an hour wait. None of us were in the mood to wait that long. I was famished! So we walked back to the Latin Quarter to an area we had seen our first day. We found a place that looked good and sat down. The food here was so good! Absolutely my favorite place we ate at in Paris. Loved the food.
One thing I like in cities is the ambiance of night and I wanted a few night shots. Robin and my dad decided to head back to the hotel and sleep while my mom, Kathrine, and I combed the city for some great photo ops. It took forever for night to hit and I rushed us too much at Notre Dame. The pictures didn't turn out that great. However, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower shots turned out great. I was exhausted by the end of the day. I had nothing left in me. I easily fell asleep tonight.
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