Our second full day in Paris involved a trip to Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur, before returning to the city centre and walking back through Les Tuileries and the Louvre to the apartment.
We caught the Metro to La Concorde, where we changed line and continued to Les Abbesses. This is the deepest station in Paris, with 285 steps from the entrance to the platform, and is one of only two that still have their original art nouveau gates and lanterns.
We headed uphill via several flights of steps to the Place du Tetre. This square is full of artists selling their pictures and painting tourists, and surrounded by bars and cafés. It was bustling and had a lovely atmosphere, but was a bit too peopley for me 😊
From here we continued on to Sacre-Coeur, a basilica built at the highest point in Paris as a memorial to the 58000 French soldiers killed during the Franco-Prussian War. It’s absolutely beautiful and stands proudly at the top of a flight of steps, high above the city. The panoramic view is stunning.
Next we wandered through the narrow back streets and squares of Montmartre past shops selling artisan goods, and a lot more selling tourist tat. Unfortunately, the first windmill we came to was covered in scaffolding, and the second was surrounded by trees.
When we’d had enough of exploring, we found a small bistro off the beaten track for lunch. It was warm and cosy, and the food was plain but delicious. We took our time, enjoying the rest and peace, before heading back out into the crowds, back to Les Abbesses to get the metro back to the La Concorde.
It felt a bit quieter now as we headed back down the dozens of steps, enjoying the wall art and glimpses of views of the city below.
After leaving the metro at Place de La Concorde, we wandered through the Jardins des Tuileries. I was disappointed by the Christmas market, which seemed aimed at children. It had fun fair rides and convenience food stalls rather than the craft stalls I’d hoped for.
We moved on to the Musée du Louvre, preferring not to join the long, winding queue to go inside, and just wandering through the grand buildings.
Like all the other tourists, we stopped to take photos of the glass entrance pyramid but, unlike the others, John refused to pose as though his finger was resting on the top point 😆
We continued walking back to the Marais and our apartment, through shops and more grand buildings. Time for a lazy evening in after a couple of busy days.
Ramblings 
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