Europe, Part Four

(Almost) a Full Day in Paris

We slept soundly in our hotel room with the aforementioned sound-proof windows. While lounging around is apparently a Parisian pastime, we had stuff to see! We gathered up our stuff and hit the road, looking for a traditional French breakfast (French toast?).

Along the way, we saw the cutest thing. This little - perhaps five years old - girl with golden curls was walking - ahem, skipping - down the sidewalk with her mother. She would get a bit ahead, then slow down, only to continue off down the road skipping again. She said bonjour to most the people she passed. One gentleman in particular, she ran up to and gave a huge hug. She talked to him a bit as her mother got closer. Her mother talked to him as well, and then off they went again. The man called out "Ciao!" and the little girl replied, "au revoir!" Cutest. Thing. Ever!

Bread

What is a traditional French breakfast, you ask. It's bread.

We found this great little place just next to the Jardin du Palais Royal called Baguett's Café. Nicole got a croissant, and I got.. bread. It came with nutella, jam, and orange marmalade. It was every bit as delicious as you could imagine.

We had a lot to see, so we did some scampering.

The Louvre (or pyramid, at least)

The mini-Arc de Triomphe. It was designed the same year as the big one, but completed 28 years sooner (1808).

In the Tuileries Garden with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

I dub this the "I Cannot Even"

Holy Macaroons! This place is called Angelina. We went primarily to pick up their famous hot chocolate (tastes and feels like melted chocolate), but ended up with a few macaroons that were amazing!

The parks in Paris had these really cool - pun totally intended - trees. They were trimmed sort of boxy, but had a canopy about 10 feet over the ground. The provided perfect shade for all the people hanging out.

The middle of this picture is the Luxor Obelisk. Our cheeky tour guide from the boat trip said they were never sure if the obelisk was a gift from the people of Egypt, or if the French military simply stole it.

Another picture overlooking the beautiful Seine.

No such thing as a good walk

We (I?) decided the best way to get from the hotel to the train station was to walk. It wasn't as crazy - distance-wise, importantly - as our walk to dinner. On paper, it was just a stroll through Montmartre, and up to see Sacré-Cœur.

We headed north from our hotel towards Montmartre. After a bit of an uphill walk, we got to Moulin Rouge.

The iconic windmill!

The walk from there to the basilica looks easy enough. Maybe I should have checked out the topography. After all, I did know (subconsciously?) that the main reason for going was for the view down over Paris. There were stairs - lots of stairs. I would have stopped to take pictures but the mood wasn't right.

The view from just in front.

The view over Paris. As I said, we had amazing weather the entire time! Sure it's a bit hazy down towards the city center, but still, wow!

Obligatory selfie.

From the basilica, we had to walk down many more stairs to get to the train station. On the way, we went through some interesting neighborhoods and Nicole was followed into a bistro by two kids (maybe 18-22) who were probably trying to pickpocket her. They decided against it, acted lost, and left, but it still wasn't a great experience. We did have some yummy lunch at the bistro, but it was unfortunately overshadowed by the idiot kids. We made it to the train station on time and got back on the train to head back to jolly old London.