Second day in Paris. For me, today, the city is too big…..and I have been frustrated by lack of free internet (instead the standard charge is 3 euro per ½ hour) and the inability to “top-off” our cell phones bought in London. That and the bank is not allowing me to transfer money into my debit card account….help! I am sure things could be worse……..
Anyways, after all the frustrations, we didn’t start our day until late afternoon…..3:00. We chose to spend the afternoon in the Montmarte area, where there are interesting cemetaries, the Mulon Rouge and Sacre Coer.
We spent a couple hours at Sacre Coer, the famous cathedral that overlooks the whole city of Paris. It was a beautiful day. We paid our respects inside the church, (where I saw a nun talking on her cell phone) and Molly climbed the stairs to the top to take some pictures and get a cardio workout (she is always taking the stairs, when I opt for the escalator) I sat outside on the steps and watched people, the city below, and listened to musicians taking turns performing for the crowds. Funny, they sang almost all American popular songs…..Bob Marley, James Blunt, Jason Mraz, etc. so we knew all the words. Vendors came around selling Heiniken beer, so we enjoyed a cold one on the steps of Sacre Coer in Paris.
We walked down the hill and thru the Montmarte area, past the Mulon Rouge and the sex shops (immaterial and ho hum, after the excitement in Amsterdam) and found the cemetery where Chopin and Jim Morrison are buried. Next moment of frustration……….doors closed as we walked up the street, so we never made it. Oh well, saw it all before, even though I thought it was Jimi Hendrix……..and by the way….Paris does not seem to have near the dog kaka problem that I experienced 8 years ago, so that is a plus. Way to clean up Parisiennes! Now if you can stop smoking so much and putting on aires, I might visit again.
Had a thunder and lightning storm that night. Hung out with the other hostelers and made friends with a woman from Iran and a man from Senegal. The man from Senegal was very politically minded, very opinionated and very focused on his views…..but his English was not too good……I told him he was giving me a headache and I wanted to talk about things like movies and music for awhile……he was no good at that, so the Iranian lady and I left and went online to try to find a friend of hers in Bellevue, of all places. Small world. But big too…….I couldn’t leave Paris fast enough this time around.
Anyways, after all the frustrations, we didn’t start our day until late afternoon…..3:00. We chose to spend the afternoon in the Montmarte area, where there are interesting cemetaries, the Mulon Rouge and Sacre Coer.
We spent a couple hours at Sacre Coer, the famous cathedral that overlooks the whole city of Paris. It was a beautiful day. We paid our respects inside the church, (where I saw a nun talking on her cell phone) and Molly climbed the stairs to the top to take some pictures and get a cardio workout (she is always taking the stairs, when I opt for the escalator) I sat outside on the steps and watched people, the city below, and listened to musicians taking turns performing for the crowds. Funny, they sang almost all American popular songs…..Bob Marley, James Blunt, Jason Mraz, etc. so we knew all the words. Vendors came around selling Heiniken beer, so we enjoyed a cold one on the steps of Sacre Coer in Paris.
We walked down the hill and thru the Montmarte area, past the Mulon Rouge and the sex shops (immaterial and ho hum, after the excitement in Amsterdam) and found the cemetery where Chopin and Jim Morrison are buried. Next moment of frustration……….doors closed as we walked up the street, so we never made it. Oh well, saw it all before, even though I thought it was Jimi Hendrix……..and by the way….Paris does not seem to have near the dog kaka problem that I experienced 8 years ago, so that is a plus. Way to clean up Parisiennes! Now if you can stop smoking so much and putting on aires, I might visit again.
Had a thunder and lightning storm that night. Hung out with the other hostelers and made friends with a woman from Iran and a man from Senegal. The man from Senegal was very politically minded, very opinionated and very focused on his views…..but his English was not too good……I told him he was giving me a headache and I wanted to talk about things like movies and music for awhile……he was no good at that, so the Iranian lady and I left and went online to try to find a friend of hers in Bellevue, of all places. Small world. But big too…….I couldn’t leave Paris fast enough this time around.
