Steps today: 25 200 / 16.61 km
Back on the road to Paris today! Settle an argument: is this my 11th or 12th visit? Can I count this time as 12th, or is it still 11th because it's all part of the same overall vacation rolled in with the 2 days we did at the start of the trip?
It was an almost 5-hour ride so I upgraded us to first class again so we'd be more comfy. It was like travelling in armchairs. We didn't want to waste the day, so we took the 6:10AM departure getting us to Paris before lunch. Perfect! It meant a 4:30AM wake-up call, but that's totally worth it.
15 minutes before arrival, our train had to make an emergency medical stop in Massy. Thankfully the delay was less than 20 minutes. No idea what the situation was for the poor soul who needed the paramedics! yikes!
We got to our hotel by a quarter to 12, and were thrilled to find that the room was ready. Thank God! the weather forecast was wall to wall sun and heat all day, so I was happy we could leave our jackets behind and not have to drag them around all day. We would not need them... it was awful sticky hot.
The hotel was very nice, and perfectly situated for our needs. After a succession of narrow bathrooms, this large one felt great... until we had to use the shower. The door could not open all the way because it bumped up against the sink. A large person could not have gotten in. We're "average sized" and had to slink out of the stall and it was a tight squeeze.
Priority one was lunch. I love the terrasse at le Rostand Café because they have a rare for Paris non-smoking section. We made a beeline for it, about a 10 minute walk from the hotel.
It was "just" a sandwich for me in order to save SOME room for supper.
Our plan after this was to go to Montmartre. Frank enjoys the area more than I do, I find it too crowded and touristy, but I didn't mind going today.
The walk there was nice, but OMG it was getting hot. It was just "where's the shade" instead of "look at that nice building" I think I took 5 pictures max.
After about 45 mins / 1 hour, I needed to stop for a cool drink. I am just not made for temps over 25ºC. It might be fine if you're just sitting around, but we are always on the move!
We got to Montmartre by 3ish, and visited the St-Jean Church which to me is one of the most interesting ones in Paris.
The mosaics making up the names on the memorial to the WWI war-dead is impressive!
The "I love you wall" is normally just a sea of heads, but I got lucky this time. I thought the little girls pointing to their language so cute!!
Next we took the funicular up to Sacré-Coeur. We normally enjoy the challenge of taking the stairs, but not today. I was a puddle and I knew I couldn't do it. I was just too hot.
We wandered around for a bit, then sought shelter on a shady terrasse again.
We lingered around until about 5PM, then started walking down to a particular resto for supper that I wanted to do. Last time I was there, their table bread buns were so delicious I have been craving them every since! I told Frank we had to go to get them out of my system, he was game for it so off we went.
A few pictures along the way, but not many because we were too busy concentrating on finding shade!
We got there a little before 6, and sat inside in the shade. And the bread? nope. no buns, just normal baguette.... still delicious!
Sadly, when we picked our nice and shady seat indoors, we did not think about which way the sun was moving, and we ended up in it's glare again by time we were done. This was my view when we still had some shade left.
And then we walked passed the Louvre. Now a days, there is a permitter to keep non-ticket holders away so getting full-on pictures of the various facades is no longer possible if you're just passing though.
It would seem most people LOVE the heat and the banks of the Seine offered a huge dose of full-on sunshine. I'm happy for them... it's the last place I'd want to be! You can tell by the long shadows that the sun was getting low by now.
It was after 8PM now, and the weather was getting progressively better (for me) and it became a pleasure to be outside again. We went for a nightcap at the Départ St Michel and it was terrific!
Not so terrific was the view of the St Michel Fountain that normally provides a nice backdrop here. It's closed for renovations for the next 2 years. Here's a picture of it I took when we were here 2 weeks ago.
We got to the room just before 9PM. It was a super day.... despite the crippling heat!
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