Paris - Day 2

We have had a lovely second day in Paris, which started out at 3 in the morning for Christine and 4 in the morning for Hovan. Up early and out the door to the Eiffel Tower. We arrived at the tower a bit before sunrise and about 3 hours before the lifts opened. At that early hour all we saw were machine gun toting military men, lots of Parisian joggers and one guy hawking his crappy tourist souvenirs with only two suckers to annoy- us. Since Christine and I have both been to the top of the tower before, we felt it unnecessary to wait around to go to the top.

After going for a nice early morning walk and breakfast through the side streets of Paris, we decided to head to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica for the morning. I had already been there once before, however Christine had not. The building itself is stunning and the view from the front is a spectacular sight overlooking Paris. Following some advice Allison posted to the blog Christine and I looked into going to the top, and also into the Crypt. We mis-read the sign and thought that the crypt was 300 steps into the earth - really excited about a crypt that was so deep. Turns out it was 300 steps to the top and not the bottom. Allison, you were right, the view from the top of church dome was spectacular. A 360 degree panoramic view of all Paris. Absolutely stunning and very peaceful up there. As we were leaving we noticed hordes of tourists arriving, so thankfully we beat the rush. On our way out we enjoyed some delicious crepes as Christine promised Courtney she would - especially the nutella one.

We hopped back on the subway and returned to the centre of Paris, starting the remainder of our day at the Arch de Triumphe and then wending our way down the Champs D'Elysees. The day was quite lovely at a nice relaxed vacation pace that included a very slow walking pace, coffee shops and a nap (for Christine). Paris is a city with too much to see in such a short time, but thankfully we had seen so much before, so there was no rush or pressure to get in so many sights.

We ended to day with a visit to Notre Dame, another beautiful church built in a very different style from Sacré-Cœur. While we were touring through the church a service began. It felt very intrusive to have hundreds of tourists wandering around taking pictures while all these Catholics were trying to conduct their service. I couldn't imagine attending a church service with so many gawkers looking on.

After relaxing at a bench on La Seine river, listening to a music performer and watching the boats go by, we went off for a nice dinner at a fancy romantic Parisian restaurant to end our time in Paris. I will post the dinner in a separate blog, as the whole meal is worthy of it's own write-up.

This is the end of our stay in Paris, our next stop is a tiny 10,000 person town south of France as we start making our way to Portugal. From hear on out it is more camping and making our own meals instead of fancy hotels and lavish meals, but we have truly enjoyed the start of our vacation.

While I am writing this, Christine is out doing the truly European shopping experience getting fruit, cheese and bread from 3 different stores before we climb back into the car to fight our way out of the city.

From here on out, the internet access will be a little less consistent, so our posts may become a bit more irregular.

Wishing you all the best,

Christine and Hovan