Paris – Day 8

Sunday morning in Paris began with a lot of rain.  It was Lynne’s birthday, so we slept in and then had a slightly less scripted day.  Fortunately the weather cleared up and stayed dry and sunny for the rest of the day.  On our way out we spent some time checking out cool French antiques at a neighborhood antique fair on our block.  Then we got on the metro and headed to Montmartre, since we heard Sunday was definitely the day to visit for the art and to see Sacre Coeur.  The interior wasn’t terribly impressive, but the exterior was beautiful.  We enjoyed the stairs and climbs of Montmartre, but it was crowded on the south side, so we climbed up and found a quaint cafe for lunch.  As we ate we enjoyed music from accordion players.

A lot or artists (Picasso, Van Gogh, Utrillo) used to live and work in this area, which used to be a bit seedier and poorer.  We were able to see some houses where they lived and worked, but one place I (Kirk) had to visit was the Lapin Agile.  While we weren’t really interested in a cabaret show at this bar/cabaret, I mostly wanted to visit it ever since reading/seeing (and loving) Steve Martin’s play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” back in the mid 90’s.

Sunday was a great time to see all the local artists out on the square painting and drawing.  We saw some fantastic work, and I really enjoyed just standing around and watching them create. 

This is a shot of Rue Norvins that is a popular angle for artists

After spending more time wandering around Montmartre we headed southeast to the Marais district, one of the oldest in the city.  There we saw the Place des Vosges (pictured below), Victor Hugo’s house, the Musee Carnavalet, a street fair/parade, a restaurant/bar named “Indiana,” the Bastille, and the new opera.

After walking all over the city and seeing so many things, Lynne wanted to just sit and read, so we sat on the bench in this picture, in a quiet little garden amid the bustling city.  It was really nice and peaceful.

For dinner we walked a few blocks to try L’As Du Fallafel, a place that is all the rage.  It didn’t disappoint and the falafel and chicken were both excellent!  You can see the long line below, just to get take-out, but it actually moves quite quickly as they have some good operations management practices implemented.

After dinner we walked back to the Ile Saint-Louis because we had yet to try the highly acclaimed Berthillon ice cream.  It was as good as any I’ve ever had.  Our next stop was the Arch.  Yes, we were there just the night before, but this time we wanted to get some pictures of the city and Eiffel Tower at night, and thanks to our museum pass, it was free to go up it as often as we liked.

 

The eventually kicked us out and we were the last two people to leave the Arch.  For some reason it felt like our last night in Paris, but fortunately we had one more full day left to enjoy the city and continue to fall in love with it.