Day 23 - Montmartre
Our last full day in Paris the weather was spectacular. Warmer and sunny - so we headed to the 18th arrondissement which is the Montmartre area famous for the Basilica of the Sacre-Coeur and the Place du Tertre where artists paint and do portraits. Paris is basically a flat city except for the Montmartre area which is a huge hill. If you make it up all the steps to the Sacre-Coeur you are treated to a fabulous view of Paris - worth it! The area is always super crowded with tourists so beware of pickpockets and Gypsy’s.
Ta Da! This was taken after I had already been to the top - made it! The beautiful white Basilica is only 130 years old which is not old by French standards. There was a mass going on inside so I didn’t take pictures but it’s beautiful and worth a visit.
Place du Tertre where the artists gather and paint dating all the way to the 1800’s and the Impressionists. Lots of narrow winding streets with shops and restaurants.
We had checked off all the major things on our list so our goal after Montmartre was just to meander the 9th arrondissement, find some food and enjoy a beautiful day in Paris. Can you think of a better idea? All the arrondissements have their own distinct personality, and the 9th feels very local. Loved it! Lots of small shops, restaurants, flower shops, patisseries, fromageries, charcuterie etc.
A pretty boulevard in the 9th arrondissement.
Lunch in the 9th at Cafe M. We were checking menus as we both wanted a classic roasted chicken and found it here. Delicious!
More meandering took us past this McDonalds. Most subtle one I’ve ever seen complete with a sidewalk seating area.
The majority of Paris is in what is called the Haussmann building style named after Georges-Eugene Haussmann who carried out a massive urban renewal program of reconstruction in the early 1800’s. The buildings are made of stone and looked striped with amazing iron balconies and trim.
Classic example of Haussmann style and everywhere you look in Paris.
Our last day in Paris deserves a stop at a patisserie so we found a sweet little shop to indulge ourselves.
A chocolate eclair for Julie that surprised her by being filled with an enormous amount of chocolate filling and a strawberry tart for me. On such a sweet little street called Rue Cadet.
We eventually made it back to our hotel to start packing for our return back to the states. We stayed at a great little boutique hotel in the Marais called Relais du Marais that was in a wonderful location convenient to getting us quickly anywhere in the city via Metro or walking. The people working there were all so sweet and helpful and got a kick out of our botched attempts at speaking French. We anticipated a quiet evening of getting packed and a good nights sleep before our early morning departure but Paris always has a surprise in store for you. We heard a lot of noise outside our room from the street at about 8:30 PM and opened the windows to see what was happening. To our surprise our quiet street was filled with a protest parade of people marching down the street chanting and waving signs and banners. All of a sudden a few protesters got out of hand and started running toward cars with big sticks and it appeared they were going to start destructive behavior and immediately out of the corner of our eyes a large amount of riot police appeared in full gear - helmets, large shields and batons and took over the street. The protesters started throwing what appeared to be fireworks and the police countered with what we thought were smoke bombs but we soon discovered was either tear gas or pepper spray because our eyes started burning and we were choking. We quickly closed the windows but it took awhile for us to feel normal again. We watched the rest with the windows closed but were super impressed with how quickly the police got things under control with no real force. Behind the mass of riot police were at least 20 police vans following. The protesters peacefully continued down the street and all was well. There are protests frequently in Paris but because the gun control laws are so strong there while there was a heightened sense of anxiety during the protest my first thought wasn’t that someone was going to pull out a gun and start shooting. We asked in the morning at the front desk what was the cause of the demonstration and they said it was the Turkish invasion into Syria.
View from our window of the protest right before the police arrived.
Day 24 - back to Charles de Gaulle airport for the return flight to Chicago where I’ll be spending the weekend with family and friends cheering for my incredible daughter Keeley who is running the Chicago Marathon. - Yeah Keeley!
I feel a bit overwhelmed with gratitude for being able to make this trip with my amazing, adventurous, fun and beautiful friend Julie. We visited so many fantastic places, saw so many incredible sites, ate the most delicious food, drank great wine, navigated trains, fumbled through languages and met warm friendly people. We walked over 155 miles (I know this because I kept track!), and I ate croissants every morning for 24 days. I thought I could never get tired of delicious croissants and found that that is incorrect, At least for now I am maxed out!
Just one morning of the many that started my day😊
We celebrated Julie’s birthday in Portugal with champagne and cake! I think Julie will always remember this birthday!
Happy Birthday Julie! I hope it’s your best year yet!
Thanks for reading about our trip. If you read one post or all I’m glad you came along. This is not the end for me. I have lots more places I want to visit. Check back soon!
A bientot Paris💕
“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” Mary Anne Radmacher