We had decided yesterday that today Jody and Guy would go off and do their own thing. We all pretty much slept in this morning and after lounging around a bit, starting a load of laundry (our apartment has a combination washer/dryer), and finally eating some breakfast, Eric and I finally made it out the door around 11:30. We are starting to really fit in with the Parisians…they don’t get up very early in the morning and they stay up really late (it does not even start to get dark here until 9 p.m.)
We made our way down the street to the Velib station and rode across the Seine to Ile de La Cité where Notre Dame is located, but our main goal was to visit Bertie’s Cupcakery to each get another cupcake. Just as we were finishing eating our cupcakes it started to sprinkle, so we put the hoods up on our rain jackets and headed on our way back across the Seine to the Marais.
We decided to do the walking tour that Rick Steves has in his book for the Marais district. We made our way all the way down to the Bastille and worked our way back. We stopped into the Carnavalet museum and looked around, which was probably a good thing as it really started to rain while we were inside. After looking around there we popped back out onto the street to find that it had stopped raining and the sun had come out from behind the clouds. Along our walk we also passed Victor Hugo’s residence.
It was a fun walk with lots of interesting stores along the way also. There are so many cafes and boulangeries it is mind boggling. There is a store for everything here. It is not like living in the US where you go to the grocery store and get everything in one stop. Here you have a fromagerie, a butcher, a florist, a produce store, a chocolate shop, a cupcakery, an ice cream/gelato shop, etc. Everything is so fresh here. The produce is amazing, the cheese is amazing, and the bread is the most amazing.
After our walk we made our way back to our street where they have an open air market on Wednesdays and Saturdays and we bought some fresh roasted potatoes with onion and seasoning. We also bought some fresh cheese and some pear cider. Then we made our way back across the street and stopped at the boulangerie and bought a baguette, a couple chicken wraps, some flan, and some chocolate cake. We made the short trip back to our apartment to devour at least some of our scrumptious finds.
After filling our bellies, we decided it was time to go out and get some more exercise. We walked a couple blocks down the road and found the nearest cat café. They have café’s here where people who are missing their cats or can’t have cats can come and have a cup of coffee and a biscuit and pet the cats and enjoy their company.
After taking of picture of the cats through the window, we made our way on down the street to find the nearest metro station to make our way across town to see Sacre Cœur, a working Catholic basilica. After making a couple transfers on the metro (which is really quick) we arrived at the stop nearest the Sacre Cœur. The Sacre Cœur is located on the highest hill in Paris.
After a bit of a hike up the hill, it finally came into view. It is really pretty sitting atop the hill. There are many steps that make their way up the hill and they are covered with people sitting and enjoying the scenery, taking pictures, and just hanging out. It is kind of like a party scene. It is hard to believe that just inside is a working church.
Besides being able to go inside, you can also tour the crypt and dome. So we paid our money to enter the crypt and dome. We were amazed that there was no line to get in to see either. We entered the crypt and it was earily silent. We toured our way around the crypt and then headed for the dome.
It is 300 steps to make your way up to the dome at the very top of the church. These are some extremely narrow, spiral stone steps that are well worn, but the reward is the amazing view at the top. It is simply breathtaking. Eric said he thought it was a much better view that what we got from the Eiffel Tower. I got some amazing shots of the city, parts of the church, and the Eiffel Tower.
It was hard to believe that we were the only ones on top of the dome and had this spectacular view all to ourselves. As it was evening time and was a bit breezy, we were starting to get chilly, so we started the descent back down the stairs to make the journey across town to our apartment.
Once back at our apartment we got out the baguette and cheese that we had bought earlier and had it with some fresh strawberries. It is unbelievable how amazing such simple food can be when it is so fresh.
After dinner we did some housekeeping chores like cleaning up the kitchen and living room and Eric loaded up the dishwasher to run while I ran the vacuum around the apartment to clean up all the crumbs from all the baguettes we have eaten so far. That is the only downside to such wonderful bread, it does make quite the mess with crumbs.
After we got things straightened up in the apartment, we headed out on the town again. It was around 10 p.m. and we headed back across the Seine on foot to take some pictures of the Notre Dame cathedral lit up at night. It is amazing how the crowds clear out late at night. It was almost like having the place to ourselves (much nicer than during the day). I got some amazing pictures of Notre Dame and some of the other buildings around the Marais that are lit up at night. I guess they don’t call it the City of Lights for nothing.
We finally made it back to the apartment just after midnight and not too long after that Jody and Guy made their way back also. As I am typing this blog it is approximately 1:30 a.m. and I have a feeling Eric and I will both be sleeping in in the morning.
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