Monday, August 24, 2009

A Day Full of Walking

Yesterday, Crystal and I walked all day long...seriously. After I grabbed some breakfast and took a shower, Crystal met me at the foyer (the place I am staying) where we left for Montmartre. Montmartre is the area of Paris where I lived last year where Sacre Coeur, a beautiful basilica, is located. 
We took the Metro, which had a LONG winding staircase and then walked the bazillion steps to Sacre Coeur. Something really cool about Sacre Coeur is that you can see it from very far away because it is situated on a hill.  No matter how many times I see Sacre Coeur, I am always amazed by its beauty and uniqueness.

After checking out the area surrounding Sacre Coeur, Crystal and I continued our walk of my old stomping grounds by making our way down to Pigalle, Paris's red light district, home of the famous Moulin Rouge. Honestly, if you ever make it to Pigalle, you must realize that it is filled with sex shops and things you are not used to seeing in public. With that in mind, it is necessary to just laugh and enjoy your time. Crystal and I, as always, did exactly that. 
These rare treasures are our old favorites located at Pigalle's erotic museum...
They are just a few of the tamer things one comes across in this colorful area. 

After walking around Montmartre for hours, we decided to go somewhere to cool off. There are not many places to just go swimming in Paris, but there are plenty of fountains. There are even some where you can play. Right away, Trocadero came to mind. PERFECT view of the Eiffel Tower. It was so nice there. We felt like children playing in the water. 
We relaxed for maybe a half hour with our feet in the water, contemplating where to go next. Since we were in the general area of my future home, we decided to check it out. The area is very residential... no tourist attractions that I know of. It is peaceful and nice. I'm going to live in a fire house!!! 

After that, Crystal and I decided we had had enough walking and would just check to see if one of our favorite wine bars was open on our way back to the foyer (it was closed last summer during the month of August because the owners were on holiday). Anyway, as soon as we got off the Metro, Crystal received a call from Sylvain asking if we wanted to join him and his brother Maxime. Bien sur! Of course! I was so excited. These guys are great. It turns out they were only a few streets away drinking Coca-Cola Lights at a little cafe in front of the Odeon Theater. We sat and chatted with the boys and then decided to go for a walk. Haha. As if we hadn't walked enough. We walked to a fun area of Paris called Le Marais. There is lots of history in this area (of course, just like most of Paris). Eventually, after lots of exploring we made our way back down Boulevard Saint-Michel to the foyer in order to take my luggage to Sylvain's apartment where it is being stored for the next week. 

Crystal and I said "Au revoir!" to the boys and headed back to the foyer for some food and relaxation on the terrace. It was the perfect night for it. The sky was beautiful and the food hit the spot, even though it was fast food. At one point, the Eiffel Tower was sparkling and the sky possessed every color of the rainbow. This was our view...
We ended the night speaking French with my friend from the previous night. 

What a perfect, exhausting day!!!

1 comment:

Weisman said...

BAAAAAAAH SO JEALOUS that you and the Cordier boys are hanging out in Paris WITHOUT me!!