More Typical Stops

Yesterday, we made our way to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, without realizing the crowds we were about to face. We navigated the trains, once we got change to buy tickets and a train map to navigate which lines we needed to switch to and when we got off the train we were welcomed by quite the crowd. Turns out it was the weekend of Montmartre's vineyard festival, so their were people everywhere. We took the hilly back roads up to the basilica and we were all happy to see that we had avoided the stairs when we got to the time, not only because it had been a long and hot walk but also because the stairs leading up the Sacre Coeur were packed with people.

I thought trying to make our way through the crowd took away from the area a bit and having to push through people to be able to see the awesome view of Paris that the stairs provide was a bit annoying, despite this it was still worth it. As soon as we walked into Sacre Coeur you would never know that there was a huge festival going on outside it was so quiet and serene in the basilica. My mom agreed with what I said the first time I visited, as soon as you walk in you almost get a creepy chill, it's the weirdest feeling and so hard to describe, I think it has to do with the light coming in from the dome.

We headed back out to face the crowds and find somewhere to eat. After quite a bit of wandering we ended up over by Moulin Rouge, I had never actually seen the building before, so it was completely by chance that we ended up on that street. We found a little Italian place to eat, which opposite from all the places we had passed along the way was a bit off the crowded beaten path and due to the odd time that we were once again eating there was only one other group there.

When we got off the train we attempted to find somewhere to get bread, cheese and wine for the night but because it was Sunday a lot of the places had closed early. As we walked by the Eiffel tower we took some pictures and Uncle Mike got us some scrumptious cotton candy that we devoured in about five minutes, we're Leddins and like our sugar, what can I say?

This morning I had to get up bright and early to make it back to Cergy in time for my French class at 8:30, I was out the door by a little after 7 and could see the sun rising behind the Eiffel tower and my train headed back out to the suburbs. I'm pretty sure that the girls were just waking up when I was getting out of class, so I met up with everyone after my class on the Champs Elysses. We wandered around for a bit and went over by the Arc de Triomphe.

P.S. Happy 24th Anniversary Mom and Dad! Thanks for letting me steal her T Ry!