We got figured out how to upload our dang photos, so go back right now and check out our living arrangements, the neighborhood we chill in most frequently at night, as well as all of our touristy pics of the Notre Dame and Louvre from Day 1.
Long story short, we brought new laptop and didn’t have an adaptor that connected the camera and computer and we forgot a wifi card so we went to the Apple Store at the Louvre yesterday (May 1) only to find out that it was a national holiday—equivalent to our Labor Day. We went back today, found that they were open, and had the right adapter—win. If you’re counting at home, that’s 3 times we’ve been to the Louvre in 3 days.
Because of this delay, we are a day behind in posting. Yesterday we woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after getting a healthy 12+ hours of sleep in the previous night. We first made our way back to the Louvre where we started the Champs-Élysées walk. This walk took us along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées which is Paris’ version of Michigan Avenue in Chicago and 5th Avenue in New York with a lot of big and expensive stores. The walk eventually led us to the Arc de Triomphe. This is the massive arc that was originally built for Napoleon and his army for winning one of many battles. The arc wasn’t completed before he died, but it was in time for his funeral procession.
After checking out the arc we made the long stroll to the one and only Eiffel Tower. A lot of people reading this have probably already seen it and if not in person than in millions of pictures. The few things that I learned or that surprised me was that it was built for the World’s Fair and it beat out a giant guillotine sculpture, I didn’t realize that there are roads that pass so closely underneath, and finally I just didn’t realize it would be that large.
After the Eiffel we got a few blocks away and indulged in our first French meal at Café Ribe. We sat uncomfortably close to two other tables, they served Caitlin what appeared to be an entire bottle of wine although she ordered a pichet (no complaints from her side of the table), and we each had a croque monsieur, basically a ham and cheese sandwich with more cheese on top of the sandwich. To finish, they served us each a coffee, therefore checking all of the French boxes.
Once our bellies were full we were off to Montmartre. One of the first things you see when getting off the train is the Sacre-Coeur. The church itself is so much different than anything else in the city, but almost better than the church is the view that it provides (it sits on the highest natural point in Paris).
I’m glad we had already seen so many different parts so that I could look for specific landmarks. The Sacre-Coeur was the highlight of the area, but in general this neighborhood was personally my favorite spot. We had seen where the rich and powerful were primarily at, but it was completely different to see where common bohemian folk and artisans lived and played back in their heyday. Everything was so well preserved to that it really did feel like we had stepped back in time.
Some of the other stops included:
- Church of St. Pierre
- Cabaret de Patachou
- Place du Tertre
- Rue Norvins
- La Maison Rose Restaurant
- Picasso’s Studio
- Van Gogh’s Home
- Moulin Rouge
- Pig Alley
Pig Alley is a watered down version of the Red Light District in Amsterdam, but judging by Caitlin’s giggling and numerous pictures, I don’t know if she will be able to handle Amsterdam.
We made our way back to our neighborhood and went to an excellent pub that had a phenomenal happy hour where we threw back beer, wine, an absinthe shot, and a charcuterie plate.
We ended the night strolling on down to the Bastille where we saw there had been riots going on for May Day but the rioters must have gotten hungry because all that remained were a bunch of spray painted windows.
Tomorrow (actually today) is Versailles and weather is supposed to be (it was) great!
Also, if you want to go check out our previous post, we were able to go back and upload pictures of that first day in Paris.