Night in Montmatre...

After our walk up and down the Arc de Triomphe, we tried for another day to go to the top of Notre Dame. They were closing by the time we got there, so we got an ice-cream cone and did a little shopping.

Then we got on the metro to head to the area of Montmatre, to see the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur. I don't have a ton of photos to share on this one, because my battery was nearly gone when we got here. But I do have a few fun stories to add.

As we were going through the metro station there was a line of African young men lined against the wall with a variation of hands behind their backs and being frisked by policemen. I would say there were 10-15 of them lined up. It was a strange thing to see...and I remember thinking if this were happening in the states, there would be a camera crew...and people gawking and stopping what they were doing to try to figure out what they had done. But, there, people were just going on about their own business.

We got off of the very full metro...where a man was literally resting himself on my leg, as I had a seat and he did not...in my head I was screaming PERSONAL SPACE PERSONAL SPACE PERSONAL SPACE!!!!!!!!!! But, big city, people everywhere, it happens.

Anyway, we got off the metro and headed towards the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur. Montmatre is up on a hill. Living where I do, I've walked up plenty of hills. This hill was not more of a slope than some of the ones in the open space behind my house. But on that night...it might as well have been a 14,000ft mountain. My feet were killing me, I knew I had blisters on my toes, and my achilles were screaming from the torture.

When we got almost to the top of the hill, there were another bazillion steps to climb before getting to the church. I thought for sure I was going to have to ask for healing once we got in there. ;)

We got to the top just as the sun was starting to set. I forgot about my aching feet and soaked in the experience! For those that might not know, the beauty of the Rocky Mountains ALWAYS blocks the view of the sun setting. California gets all that glory to the west of us! I was so excited to see the sun set...I hadn't in almost 2 years!











After we saw the last of the sun go down, we stepped inside the church. They were having Mass, so there were sisters singing, and beautiful music playing. As we walked the perimeter of the sanctuary, I was struck by how there were people from around the world walking through this great cathedral while a service was going on. And how in most churches I know, that would be absolutely unheard of to have hoards of tourist walking through the middle of worship time. I have been in Hindu Temples as a tourist while worship was going on, in Muslim Mosques as a tourist while they were praying, and numerous Catholic churches with various forms of services going on. But I imagined what might happen if a group of tourist piled out of a bus and started gawking at the walls of the churches I know.

It was really a beautiful church, and I loved listening to the choir sing. It was peaceful, even with the bustle of tourist piling by. We got to the end and started towards the restaurants and shops in Montmatre.



I really liked this area of Paris. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco. The hills, the artists set up in the plazas. The musicians playing outside. I really liked it!

We walked around, and in a few shops before deciding on pizza for dinner. Now, I've been razzed about not eating "Parisian food" while we were in Paris...but I like eating food I can eat virtually anywhere in the world and comparing it. That's why I wanted to try pizza. It's just a fun thing to do when I travel. I've had pizza everywhere I've traveled...India, Jamaica, China, England, and now France!

This pizza place was little and seemed to be family owned. The manager/owner was making the pizza as well. The highlight of our time there, was the man three tables over that was so very strange. Once he got his pizza, he emptied nearly an entire bottle of chili oil on it, from the height of about a foot in the air. It was splashing all over. Then he did it again, and gave a blessing of sorts to the pizza, then slammed the bottle on the table. The manager came over to talk to the man and ask him to calm down. Then gave him a glass of wine...good let's give him alcohol to calm things down...he's obviously a stable person.

Once we finished our pizza, and made sure that fella was staying put in the restaurant as we left, we headed back towards our hotel. We stopped in a little sweet shop and got macarons. I had a great photo of these little gems, but as soon as Steve got his phone back he erased all the photos I took with the phone before I could get them onto my computer...DOH! They were delicious though! And about the size of a quarter! I'm pretty sure I could have eaten at least 10 of these beauties!

We got back to our hotel room and I found I had two amazing blisters on my feet. OUCH! Then we did some research on what we would do on Sunday...the day all of Paris sleeps!