After we had stored our bags in a locker at the main train station we did a practice run of the route to the airport train from the lockers. It might sound silly but it was actually a good idea because the train station was so big, and a lift and an escalator we needed were not working!
With that sorted we headed off to Montmartre the home of the beautiful domed church Sacre Coeur that we could see from our hotel. When we arrived we tried to take photos and were harassed by about 20 street venders grabbing at our hands trying to make friendship bracelets to sell us! It was hot again, so we caught the funicular up the hill. Up the hill there were more street venders selling bags and eiffel tower key rings. Then the police came and they were off like a flash, picking up their wares in a blanket with strings. It was amusing to watch.
When we went into Sacre Coeur it was time for mass. We sat for a while watching the priests do their thing and the nuns singing. Later when we were looking around the church we saw the congregation taking communion. Interesting. The church itself is more spectacular on the outside than the inside, but there is a huge mosaic of Jesus and some other nice mosaics.
We investigated going to the top of the church, but there was no lift. It was only 300 stairs, but we were already sweating just from being outside in the heat!
We moved on to the artists area of Montmartre. They are all very friendly trying to get you to stop and have your picture drawn. Lucky I was there, because Stef would have stopped at them all and come home with 50 pictures! We looked around all the artists and them chose the one who had the best picture. Stef went first, while I had a look around at the cafes and other artwork, then we swapped. We were pretty impressed with the end result. Check it out for yourself, but please excuse the blurry picture.
After our picture was drawn we chose one of the many cafes for lunch, randomly, because they all had pretty much the same food. Stef had a toasted sandwich that had the cheese on the top and grilled - genius. She wasn't that satisfied but I really liked it, will have to try at home. I had a salmon, shrimp, kiwi fruit and grapefruit salad, which was very yum.
Stef was getting a bit ancy at lunch, worrying that I was going to make us miss the plane on purpose so we wouldn't have to go home!
We wandered around Montmartre, which is a beautiful area for wandering, with cobbled streets and pretty houses. We found the Montmartre cemetery, with little house like tombs on top of each grave. We carried on until we got to the Moulin Rouge. By this time Stef was really ancy (it was about 2.30pm and our plane leaves at 9pm), so we took a few quick photos and hopped on the metro back to the main train station to grab our bags and head to the airport.
When we arrived at the airport it was 4.30pm (we had coffee at the main train station) and the flight attendants told us we couldn't check in until 6pm... so we sat in the check in area, and Stef caught up on her diary.
When it was finally 6pm we queued to check in. It took about 30 mins before we were at the front of the queue, and the whole time Stef was nervous about our bags! My bag was 27.5kgs and Stefs was 23.7kgs. Excluding our two extra carry on bags, we have an extra 24.7 kgs in our checked luggage alone! Hope it doesn't cost too much to post all the goodies home to Invercargill - those big Eiffel towers were quite heavy!
Luckily the lovely French man put our bags on, after a moment of hesitation where Stef and I just looked at each other and held our breaths.
Au Revior, Europe. New Zealand we are looking forward to seeing you in 25 hours.
Photos:
Us at bottom of Montmartre hill
Stef getting drawn
Our artist and our drawing
Stef at Montmartre
Us at Moulin Rouge
Waiting to check in at airport
Have loved reading your entries. Thanks for sharing your journey with me.... Am looking forward to seeing more photos:-)
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