Tourist Day pour moi!

WARNING: This post is chock-full-of-photos!

Je me suis réveillée très tôt, and ordered a cab to take me to the 18th arrondissement to meet my group. There. we began our 5-hour tour of Paris!

We officially started at La Basilique du Sacré Cœur de Montmartre, and I have to say I really wanted to spend the rest of the day there. C’est magnifique!

We took the funicular to the top of the hill for a view of Paris’ low rooftops, which you can see in the photo below.

We took a quick tour of the beautiful Basilica, where I lit a candle. We walked around the town, and descended the famous stairs.

I wanted to stay and soak up the art spirits of Picasso, vanGogh, Pissarro, Monet, Degas, Modigliani, Mondrian, Valadon… Wow.

Plus, all the current artists in the square setting up to paint and sell their work. There are literally brass pegs drilled into the cement marking artist’s spots. They look to be 5×5 feet or so, maybe less! Artists set up and paint/sell their art all around the square. There’s apparently a 10-year waiting list to secure one of those pegged off spots.

I loved this place. (I think I was there in another life.)

We stopped in a local café for une pause, where I enjoyed une éclaire chocolat, café crème et de l’eau.

Ah, Moulin Rouge. I would love to see a show here. Another list.

There’s literally a store called « Merde » which is French for sh!t. Anyone who has had children in ballet knows this is the only way you wish a ballet dancer good luck. Why? Well, in the days of horse-drawn carriages, when the dancers arrived for the show, if the streets were filled with « Merde » it meant there was a crowd. That’s how they judged whether the house was sold out, and that meant a good show and everyone would get paid.

So, I discovered a store in Montmartre dedicated to « Merde » merchandise, but it wasn’t yet open for the day.

We took the Métro to the Arc de Triomphe, where we posed for shots in the middle of the street. There’s a narrow painted area where you can stand between lanes. Everyone takes their turn and you have to scootch by each other in single file after you’ve had your photo moment. Lol!

Story time: When I was in Paris before, my husband and I didn’t know there was an underground entry to the Arch. So…

We. Literally. Ran. Between. All. The. Cars. In. That. Wild. Circle.

And somehow lived to tell about it. You can Google this insane, unregulated stream of traffic. I still can’t believe we did it!

It was the magic hour of 1:11, so we stopped for lunch where nous prenons des crêpes. C’était délicieux!

And as the crêperie was right next to one of my favorite streets in Paris, (which I had visited a few weeks ago), I had to again pay my respects to la rue du chat qui pêche!

This little painting is in the tiny Crêperie where we had lunch – an homage to le chat qui pêche!

We were off to la Tour Eiffel! We didn’t have tickets, but that’s not what today was about. (It’s still on my list to go to the top, though the tower is under some scaffolding as it’s currently being painted gold for the 2024 Olympics!)

La cathédrale de Nôtre Dame is of course, still closed, but worthy of a stop any day of the week.

Someone heard of a tale of two doves – male and female – and somehow the female was trapped inside a building. The male dove continued to bring her food every day while she was trapped. Finally a kind human discovered the situation and freed the dove. The lovebirds were commemorated with this lovely little sculpture on the building.

Some fun and another view of le musée du Louvre, and I.M. Pie’s Pyramid.

We viewed City Hall, next to the Seine, before taking the Metro to the Louvre.

There were stops in between for shopping and excursions, of course. It was a wonderful day. I bought myself a red scarf with a Paris motif from a street vendor.

And then, ladies and gentlemen, I took the metro home all by myself.

I love coming up the Metro stairs and seeing ma boulangerie préférée. I know I’m home.

But before I put that key in the door, I did stop at Sephora to see my friend, Constance, and we picked out a nice eyeshadow palette pour moi!

Pourquoi pas!

À tout à l’heure! XO