Day 15 - Paris Day 03 - Montmartre

On our last full day in Paris and of our trip we met for breakfast at 7:15am. We may not have mentioned previously that this hotel also does a lavish buffet spread for breakfast. Omelet/egg station, fruits, vegetables, and an entire hind quarter of a pig decorates the station with various meats. There are also cheeses, cereals—you name it. This hotel caters to international travelers so there is a bit of everything. Roy and Michele agreed though that the omelets were not as tasty as those prepared by Benjamin onboard our Viking ship. 

Sufficiently full, we met our tour group in the lobby area at 8:45am for our bus ride to Montmartre. How lucky were we to get Janice again as our guide! While we waited, Michele chatted with a couple from Charlotte, NC. They agreed the river cruise was spectacular. Tomorrow they aren’t going home, but are flying to London where they get on an ocean cruise around Great Britain and Ireland! Michele asked them how they have the energy because our family is exhausted from all the fun. They admitted they are tired from all the walking.

Our tour group was four couples plus Janice so we got a small Mercedes passenger van to take us to Montmartre. Today the taxi drivers were on strike because the government wants to reduce the payment they get for providing a service for the government of taking people to the hospital. Some roads were blocked and the streets were a madhouse of rush hour activity with motorcycles, motor scooters, bicyclists, buses, cars, and pedestrians. It didn’t bother us as we saw new sights and Janice narrated the entire time.

We drove across the ornate Alexander III bridge inaugurated in 1900. It has art nouveau lamps, and was built in honor of the alliance between France and Russia. It majestically spans the Seine with its golden statues and columns.

Other monuments.

These are the war canons in front of Les Invalides, a complex of buildings containing monuments and museums. Napolean’s tomb is housed below the golden dome.

It took us 45 minutes to an hour to drive the 8km to Montmartre, as our driver had to cut through small side streets to avoid congestion. Montmartre is a large hill in Paris’s northern 18th arrondissement (think of these like the boroughs in New York City). It is 130m high and gives its name to the surrounding district and is also part of the Right Bank (those arrondissements on the right bank of the Seine river). Montmartre is primarily known for its artistic history, for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur on its summit, and as a nightclub district.

Off the bus, Janice said she would take us on a quiet street that is a gradual and pleasant uphill walk to the top where the main town is located. She loved telling us how expensive the tiny 400 square meter apartments are in Montmartre. She estimated that for every one square meter, the cost was 15,000 Euros (that is about $16,800 per 3 square feet or $5,600 per square foot!) 

This small corner had the only houses in the city—what we’d call townhouses at home—and only the very rich can afford the square meters of space.

We met the “Man who could walk through walls” based on the short story by Marcel Aymé. It follows a man named Dutilleul, who discovers he can pass through walls, leading to various adventures of crime and romance until he ultimately becomes trapped in a wall.

This is the Moulin de la Galette. Nineteenth-century owners and millers, the Debray family, made a brown bread called galette which became popular and was adopted as the name of the windmill with an attached restaurant. Artists such as Renoir, van Gogh, Casas and Pissarro visited and forever immortalized Le Moulin de la Galette.

We got a first glimpse of the basilica dome up the hill.

After walking up, we were in the famous Painter’s Square. It is a small touristy area where artists have their paintings and drawings for sale. Many were quite talented.

Several had customers who wanted their portraits made on the spot, such as this little girl.

Check out the Notre Dame in chocolate made by a fancy chocolatier. 

Viking arranged for us to have a rest break at a local restaurant. We had an apple tart waiting for each of us with our choice of beverage. Michele had green hot tea. The bag said “Gunpowder”. The man across from her said, “Just don’t light it on fire.” She sniffed it first to check. A quick google and Gunpowder tea is a form of tea in which each leaf has been individually rolled into a small pellet. The restaurant had colorful decor.

We met Janice outside at 11:30 for our walk up to the Basilica. She warned us that the crowds would be intense and pick pocketers are in the form of little girls pretending to have petitions to sign. She said she would use a codeword on our audio devices to alert us, should she see them. Codeword: Charles de Gaulle.

The basilica was impressive against the blue sky. 

We did not enter the basilica on our tour as it is not tourist-friendly, which is understandable. No pictures or phones, and proper dress required. However, we later found a virtual tour on their website and the imagery is spectacular. Check it out here:

https://www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com/en/360-virtual-tour/

It was warm and crowded on the various terraces below the basilica. Suddenly we heard Janice say, “Charles de Gaulle! Charles de Gaulle!” Thankfully we didn’t see nor come into contact with the pick pocketers. 

We then took the funicular down the hill instead of the 200+ steps or having to retrace our path from earlier. A funicular is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. At the bottom we walked over to our parked passenger van. The ride back to our hotel was much smoother with calmer traffic so it took only 30 minutes. 

After a 10-minute refresh in our rooms, we walked over to the train station where Janice said there is a mall inside with eateries. We found a restaurant with a quiet section in the back and enjoyed pizzas for lunch. Thank goodness for Google translate’s camera as this restaurant didn’t have english menus. The waiter spoke english well enough to explain things to us. Some translations aren’t perfect, such as Michele’s artisinal lemonade that tasted like a fancy version of Sprite, but much better. During lunch we decided to make a reservation at Les Fauves again for dinner tonight and separately texted Marcia to confirm she can pick us all up at the airport tomorrow night.

After lunch we found a nice chocolate shop for Roy and Gwyn, then we all returned to the hotel for an afternoon rest.

We walked over to dinner at 7:15 and were seated up front in a booth. The reservation was a good idea because the restaurant was nearly full inside by 8pm tonight, compared to last night. We were told that Parisians don’t eat dinner until 8 or 9pm. Many restaurants don’t reopen for dinner until 7pm. 

After dinner we did a test suitcase packing and weighing, and learned that we only get 50 pounds per each of two checked bags on the return trip. Michele needs to load a few pounds into Rob’s bag!