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| Funiculaire |
Woke up on day 2 of my trip much more rested than on day one , headed on the much shorter metro journey to Montmartre, on alighting the metro I was aware that I was in a much poorer part of town and I felt in a hurry to get to my destination ( to be fair my hotel wasn't in the greatest of arrondissements, but I knew where I was going when I was there). Headed uphill as I figured that was the most likely direction for the Sacre Coeur , and arrived at the Funiculaire and once in the car and after the short journey up was half way up the hill to the Sacre-Coeur.
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| Beautiful Sacre Coeur |
Had a look round the Basilica and enjoyed the sunny day times views of Paris:
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Paris from the Basilica Steps
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| Autumn in Paris |
After going inside and getting frustrated by the throngs of tourists was time to enter the "Village" of Montmartre, although it was a short Funicular ride from the city and an even shorter walk from the Basilica the village of Montmartre was a different world from the hustle bustle of the City and the tourist throngs of the Sacre Coeur , after leaving the tourist trap shops I enjoyed a short walk round the deserted streets of the village.
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| Artists Paintings in Montmatre |
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| Quiet Street in the Middle of the Busy City |
Walking round the streets there were very few people around but after looking at the fine Parisian streets below and enjoying the ambience of the colourful Montmartre buildings:
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| Pink Cafe |
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| Green House/Gypsy House |
Just past the Green house I had a little encounter that interrupted my little day dream, an elderly woman walking with a small child and I had roughly this conversation with her "Excuse me Madame is this yours? " the lady showed me a band that looked like a wedding ring , "No, its not mine", "I think it's gold do you think its gold", "Well there looks to be a gold marque", "here you keep it as a present" then as it began to dawn on my face that this was possibly scam although she said again but in English this time a present, I declined and carried on walking slightly disturbed by the incident as I didn't know if I had avoided a whole load of trouble or turned down the opportunity to pawn a gold ring! Turns out I was right as this is a common scam in Paris quite how people gain from it I've no idea but glad I was careful.
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| Back of Basilica |
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The way down from Sacre-Coeur
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I returned to the throngs and made my way down to return to the busy city. Took one final look at the Basilica and headed for the Metro and Île de la Cité . I got distracted on the way down by the tourist shops and got some lovely scarves to remind me of my time in Paris.
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| Last View of Sacre-Coeur |
On arriving at Île de la Cité had a wander round and whilst I was hungry was still a wee bit early to have lunch , what I really fancied was a cup of tea so I popped into a bar for a cup of tea, the tea was typical of any country which primarily drinks coffee, the tea was blah English Breakfast and served with super creamy milk, I was not impressed to be met by a bill for five Euro , mind you the pot was pretty:
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Five Euro Cup of Tea!!
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Despite the weakness of the tea my spirits were a little revived after a bit of refreshment and I was even more excited to see the "Shakespeare’s Bookshop" that features in Movies such as "Before Sunrise" and "Midnight in Paris", signs in the windows ask you respectfully to not take photos so as not to disturb their regular customers so I hope my side photo was respectful enough:
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| Shakespeares Bookshop |
I then visited the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral :
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| Side view of Notre Dame |
After having a wander round the Cathedral , I had the Menu du Jour in a charming bar, the food wasn't that great but it had a charming atmosphere, then it was time to leave and head to the vedettes du Paris . NB the only attractions I paid to see on my Paris trip was the visit to http://www.tourmontparnasse56.com/ and http://www.vedettesdeparis.com/?langue=en were both courtesy of using my Tesco club card vouchers, so if you are planning visiting Paris no matter what your budget or time allowances are I would highly recommend you look down the back of your couch and see if you have any unused vouchers as both these attractions are well worth a visit and effectively they are free if using these vouchers.
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| Stonework on Side Of Notre Dame |
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Stained window of Notre Dame
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Anyway predictably I went to the wrong Vedettes initially despite having the right vedettes clearly marked on a map and also texting my Dad so that he could Google and get me the address again. I think it was texting my Dad that confused me (not because he gave me wrong info more because I'm thick). Anyway arrived at the correct Vedettes finally and ducked out the first cruise as it was really busy and got on the second run when I had a nice seat up front and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the city from the river.
After finishing up on the cruise it was time to head to the main attraction for a close up view :
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| La Belle Tour Eiffel |
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| Tour Montparnasse looking small |
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| Belly of Le Tour |
After a wander round the bottom of the Tour and the Parc de Champs de Mars, it was time to muster up just enough energy to have a quick peek at Les Invalides, before deciding no I did not have enough energy left to visit the Louvre during its Wednesday night opening allegedly much less busy and cheaper, I did want to see the Mona Lisa but the energy and life was drained out of me so it was time to head to the hotel for a light bite to eat and a good nights sleep as I had a big day ahead of me the next day !
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Les Invalides at Dusk
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