Don't forget to check out my Flickr set for Paris, which includes my favourite/best photos of Paris. I only ever include a selection here, my complete selection of favourites gets posted to Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645070916388/
After leaving the apartment at about 9 in the morning, I headed to the first of the phone shops I was recommended yesterday. They hadn't heard of Ortel, the SIM card I wanted, so I ended up with a Lebara SIM, which will allow me to call and text the folks for free when they get over here. The free service covers all of Europe!
I then began my long day of walking by going to Notre Dame. I couldn't believe when I got there that the queue was so long - it was on par with the line to get into the Eiffel Tower yesterday. I hadn't ever planned on going into either, especially with only two days to see the city:
The queue for Notre Dame. Pass.
After taking a few exterior shots, I came across a nice bakery in the area that had fairly decent prices. I ended up getting a cretois, and had the first half on a bridge over the Seine, while doing some people watching. I've eaten raw tomatos and eggs so far on this trip - what is happening to me!?
A cretois on the banks of the Seine.
There are so many bridges over the Seine, let alone the famous ones like Pont Neuf and Pont des Arts. After doing some more walking, I had another break on a seat right on the bank of the river.
I found out later from my GPS photo app that I walked 20 kilometres today. In that time, I started to appreciate that the major attractions are not necessarily the most photogenic. The whole of Paris is nice, and some of the things to be seen in between are more than worth stopping at, like this flower shop:
Beautiful varieties of colours and smells here
The sights of the major tourist attractions are still amazing. I walked past the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Élysées and l'Arc de Triomphe. The arch was undergoing construction and had a military ceremony when I got there, so I didn't take very many photos. Rather disappointing, as it is a fair way past Place de la Concorde, which is the last major attraction before it.
I then took the Metro to Musee de l'Armée. It was here where things went downhill very quickly. After not wearing a hat, I discovered that I had burnt my forehead. Went into my bag to get sunscreen out, and discovered that the lid had come off, resulting in sunscreen on the inside of my bag. And then I got to the museum and found out it closed to visitors entering the gardens just as I arrived:
The Musée de l 'Armee
So having briefly taken some shots of the museum, which I will just have to visit next time I'm in Paris, I walked over to Le Jardin du Luxembourg. Yet another massive garden complex with a museum, flowerbeds, fountains and hedges. I ate the second half of my cretois here, then got on another Metro, this time to Montmartre:
Sacre Coeur is the main attraction there. People go to sit on the steps with magnificent vistas over Paris, and to see the church. I managed to get there at around dusk, so the lights went on while I was there. Everything in Paris is so photogenic:
The hawkers made the transition from amusing to irritating today. I issued my first 'casse toi, s'il te plait!' to a guy following me trying to put a bracelet on my wrist at the foot of Montmartre. Once you try to touch me, I will get mad.
That's the last of my travels in Paris for today, I'm on a TGV to Frankfurt tomorrow.
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