We had breakfast at the hotel then walked to the closest metro station, Marie de Montrogue, which is about ten minutes from the ibis hotel and booked a day pass for 7.50 euros per head, which is the cheapest (and the easiest) way of transport in Paris. You can hop on and off the metro any number of times with that ticket stub, we travelled by metro the whole day and it was pretty good. We struggled a bit with figuring out the metro map initially, but after a few minutes we got our metro groove back. I remember back in 2013, I was really fascinated by the extremely efficient metro system in Paris. I loved reading the metro map, figuring out the connections and deciding where to get off... it was the same this time. Somehow riding the metro gives you an undefinable high, it is the thrill of locating the right place, the thrill of people watching, the thrill of how you never have to wait for more than a minute to catch the next train, the thrill of street performers in the train, the thrill of catching that first glimpse of the monument as you step out of the station, it is the ineffable thrill of being in Paris, free to explore and discover the hidden charms of this vibrant place.
Our first stop was Anvers, to see the Sacred Heart Church,
Or the Sacré-Cœur Basilica as it is known here.
This is my third time here, I didn't take any pictures the first time 'cause there are signs all around telling you not to take pictures.
But since it was my third time, you tend to be more self assured and you learn the art of surreptitiously taking pictures.
A winged creature against stained glass windows...
The holy water font...
An interesting fish carved into the marble inside...
Then we walked towards Montmarte village and this was my first time here...
It is a charming place where artists gather and display their paintings or sketch you on the spot...
Pretty street...
Wonder who lives here...
The Sacré-Cœur is located on a hill, the highest point of Paris, we walked through Montmarte village and went down these slopping winding streets.
Searching for a German restaurant that had nice reviews... a building on the way with pretty balcony railing.
And here we located the place, Kiez Biergarten
The menu...
First some German beer...
This was some pasta...
A rustic version of fish and chips... this was really good.
Sausages and chips
Floor design at Kiez
The scrumptious apple strudel
After this, we asked the guy at the bar for the nearest metro station and he said it's 'Guy Môquet'. So out we go searching for Guy Môquet station while cracking ourselves up with mokkai jokes over the station's similar name.
The next stop was Sainte Chapelle, we accidentally stumbled upon this place back in 2013. Among all the extravagant churches I've seen, this has to be the most beautiful one. This isn't as famous as Notre Dame, there is a 10 euro entry fee since it isn't a functioning church. There are two levels in this church, the ground level seen here is for the commoners to worship. The reigning king of that time built an upper level for royalty to attend service (yeah, goes against the whole notion of Christianity).
Another interesting floor pattern in the commoner's section of the church...
Then you climb a few steps and this is what you see...
Amazing stained glass work forming the major structure of the church.... stories from the bible are depicted on these windows.
The Rose window at the back...
The carved exterior....
The stunning interiors... these 13th century stained glass windows are some of the largest in the world and they're held in place by quite an intriguing system of reinforcements.
My sister and her owl earring...
This is the house of justice adjoining Sainte Chapelle...
We then walked to Notre dame which is barely 7 minutes away...
The rose window in Notre dame
The lights inside Notre dame is really something...
They cast a warm glow in your heart as you walk around taking in the sights...
Of this towering majestic cathedral.
We then walked to Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève (Sainte-Geneviève Library), a public and university library in Paris which inherited the collection of the Abbey of St. Genevieve, and a kind librarian lady took us on a short tour of the place.
These are relics from the Abbey, they hang in the exhibition section of the library... yogis doing yoga, how fascinating.
A description of the painting, we (India) have all the ancient knowledge but we are hardly aware of it, the medieval monks knew the value of yoga though.
The pantheon was near the library, I have no clue what it holds... it was closed by the time we got there.
St. Genevieve church was nearby... her relics are displayed here.
Some Kir (champagne) as we relax for a while...
In a proper Parisian outdoor cafe...
We then hopped on the metro again and got down at Bir Hakim to see the Eiffel Tower up close...
I remember back in 2013 we could just walk under the base, this time there were security checking booths that you had to pass through to get into this enclosed section of the base.
Here he is, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel who erected this defining symbol of Paris
We sat on the lawn in front of the tower for close to two hours, waiting for the sun to set and the tower to sparkle... it was a nice rest after an exciting morning. Whiled away the time taking pictures and observing people... a group was nearby celebrating their mother's birthday, they started singing to her as soon as the tower lit up... there were couples all around making out... a father was playing with his bare footed child... it was nice... watching love in all its forms
Finally it sparkled at 10 pm...
Here's a video of it
We then took an uber to Champs-Élysées, walked around a bit and then took a train from Franklin Station to Chetlet and then Marie Montrogue.
The only shot of the metro train I managed to take... these colourful seats inside, forgot to take pictures as it was arriving or departing. Went to the hotel pretty late around 12:30 am, showered and went straight to sleep. Next day the plan was to explore the french countryside and live in a small village.
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