Really? No, not really. Last sunday my friend took her 3- year old to a birthday party (she invited me but I gracefully declined even though the free food sounded very tempting. As it turned out, it was a right decision, you’ll find out later why)…Instead I decided to take a stroll (read: excessive cardiovascular exercise because I forgot where the effing funicular was) up the hill of Montmartre and maybe take a picture or two. Or eat a Nutella- crepe or two.
Just one! I ate just one! Honestly. I’m hurt by some people’s suspicions.
Sacre Coeur! Yes, that’s where I was headed as if I didn’t have enough pictures of it from my previous visits to Paris. But there I was, once again, snapping away. See evidence number one:
Yup, it’s still there. Yup, it’s still big. But how can I not visit there when I’m in Paris? The building is beautiful, the view is breathtaking and one of these days I’ll go see the inside too.
Only few other tourists. I especially liked when I had to queue to get on the stairs to get some shots of the view. It wasn’t all bad as I struck gold in the gift department and so being I can give you my first ever traveller tip: Save some money and buy your Eiffel-tower souvenir key chains here. 4 for 1 euro from one of those illegal aliens. Go to a souvenir shop and you might end up paying 2 euros a piece! I just saved you 7 euros! That will get you two Nutella-crepes.
But I still ate just one.
Whatevs.
The picture of a painting I posted yesterday wasn’t the only one I took. I`m giving mad props for those peeps who year after year make art for tourists and sit there on that square surrounded by herds of them and then be subjected to constant photo taking and haggling. I’m pretty sure that’s where artists go to die. Or maybe they`re already dead and that’s their purgatory.
Okay, I kind of want that painting on the left. Yes, I said it. I like tourist art! I’m here, I got bad taste, get used to it.
Mmmm…I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a sucker for nice packaging. Usually brown/orange- combo makes me nauseous but somehow (?) I managed to get past that. I might get my souvenir macarons here just to get that bag.
Who am I kidding? I’m not getting any souvenir macarons. The only macarons I’m getting are the ones I’m eating myself.
In summa summarum; 2 hours tops is the time you need for Sacre Coeur, unless you’re having lunch/dinner there. I wouldn’t. Too many tourists and after dinner, walking back to your hotel, you’ll be tripping over all those dead artists. But do go there, it’s a nice area and there are some nice shops to go with the views. If you find the perfect spot, you might get a shot like this:
Hint: This picture wasn’t taken on the stairs. Maybe I should have told about the spot to these guys too:
If you made it this far, here’ the story about the birthday party:
My friend’s daughter has kind of sweet tooth. So much that I’ve had to hide my breakfast jam, croissants and pain au chocolats from her. Before leaving to the party, my friend was all apprehensive because last time her daughter couldn’t keep her hands off the sweet stuff. But this time she didn’t have to worry about that. No. No more candy or cake for this little missy. Instead she went all nuts on cocktail sausages. So nuts that, yes, the hostess had to hide them.
How To Disown Your Friends In Embarrassing Situations; tip number 19: Dressing Up Quickly and Making Your Excuses. See also: It Was Nice Meeting You.
This is one awesome photo of the Eiffel Tower. What time of the day was it?
I think it was between 3-4pm. I’d check the original file but I lost in the Big Download mishap.