We then just took the metro and did Rick Steves Montmarte walk. It is an area that is up on the hill just a short distance from the city.
The main attraction was seeing Sacre Coeur. They must not have allowed photographs cause I don't have any of the inside and there was a service going on, so our visit was pretty short.
It's a very artsy area, so we walked around the square where many artists have booths setup selling their work. Neither of us are interested in art/craft fairs, but we were AMAZED at the work being done! If we were rich and could easily transport the goods home, we would have loaded up...but instead came away empty handed. We got to see where Van Gogh, Renroir, and Picasso all lived...crazy that they all lived right here together!
We saw Moulin Rouge and grabbed lunch in the area at La Marmite and my food was awesome! It was a little more americanized, but was basically some sliced potatoes (seasoned and buttered up real good) topped with a salad.
Next, we left this area and decided to go do a few things from our Historic Paris Walk on ile de Cite yesterday that we didn't have time for. We went to the Archeological Crypt which is near Notre Dame. Here we just looked at a bunch of roman ruins-- it was pretty cool to see what all existed underground and where buildings used to stand.
Also nearby we went to the Deportation Memorial which is dedicated to the french victims of the nazi concentration camps. You can see behind the one set of bars, there was this long lit hallway with a bunch of tiny lights- each for one person that died.
We then walked over to Ile Sainte-Louis and got some ice cream, recommended by Rick....and it was awesome!!!! I got peach and was probably the best peach I've ever had- and that is saying a lot cause I am in love with Breyer's peach ice cream!
We then headed home and then back to the Eiffel Tower for a picnic-- this time sitting on the grass in front of it (instead of our hidden bench in the back)! We stayed for a couple hours, but once it got dark there were BATS everywhere and I was uncomfortable. They would swoop down right next to people-- I had my hood up on my jacket and sitting in a ball. So we then walked up a little close to the tower and noticed they have the whole thing secured off, police or military people with guns guarding it, and people all dressed up standing outside of this area (evacuated from the fancy restaurants in the tower)! So of course any one else that speaks english that we talk to, also doesn't know what is going on. So after a bit, we decided to just leave...and later found out there was a terrorist bomb threat.
We walked for a bit to a place that had boat cruises and took a tour of the Seine at night. It was a nice relaxing end to our paris nights!
