Pete had business in Paris and Brussels last week so I hopped in the car to ride along with him. On Monday, he was at meetings all day so I looked our hotel window and there in the distance was this lovely site. It is the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre. I stopped at the hotel desk to get the best route for walking. As I left the hotel, I had more confidence than I had 6 weeks ago on my initial trip here.
The area we stayed is Gare De L'Est which is known as the French African area. My main route was down a busy Parisien street filled with bridal and tuxedo shops...one after another. It got a little sketchy in some areas (probably my anxiety coming out). But I didn't turn back and made it to this beautiful Montmartre "Hill of the Martyrs."
It is quite a climb up the hill but well worth it. The sight is spectacular with almost a 360 degree panoramic view of the city below. Of course, the ever-present Eiffel tower is always somewhere in view.
After spending some time in the church (where photos are verboten), I visited the Place du Tertre which was once the main square of the village of Montmartre and is now filled with cafe's and local artists selling their work on the spot.
When I got back to the hotel, Pete had just come back from his meetings. Soooo...it was such a nice evening, we trekked back to the Sacre Coeur with me as guide. I got a lot of nice hill climbing in that day. On our walk back to our hotel, we stopped at a cafe for dinner.
Au Revoir
Sacre-Couer de Montemart is one of the many beautiful basilicas in the world. Ryan and I did not get here (saw it in the distance though) as time contraints and my knees worked against us. It was either we see Jim Morrison's grave or Sacre-Couer. Good ol' Jim got 2 votes from me. At that point of our weekend, walking up hills or walking thru a very cobbley-stone cemetary was not good. When I come back I will see Jim's grave and the church. Ryan got his FBI background check back and was approved, so he would like to leave at the end of April. I think I will go out that last weekend and celebrate with him and his friends at his goodbye party in Iowa City. He is in for the weekend but visiting friends downtown. We had dinner together last nite and as usual I gave him a tearful goodbye. I cried when he got on the bus for kindergarten, when we left him at college, so moving to another hemisphere would call for another few tears. You pix are so beautiful. have fun this week. Talk to you soon. Love, Vic O love your blog.
ReplyDeleteSounds great!
ReplyDeleteSpring is making its valiant entrance - why do daffodils seem like a miracle EVERY year? They seem to be shouting brightness!
Have fun, you two!
love,
k