Paris, Last Day

It’s Dustin again. I have the responsibility of describing our last day in Paris. First of all, we had some awesome pastries. I had my favorite pastry yet, called a Conversation (with a French accent). We took the Metro up to Montmartre. Dantzel spotted a flea market and I graciously gave her permission to go in. She came out with a bunch of cheap clothes so I guess it was worth it. With new clothes in hand, we walked up the hill to Sacre Coeur, which is a more recent (early 1900s) cathedral that looks a lot like a mosque. It was beautiful and there were tons of musicians out front, which gave it a very spiritual feel. We saw a harpist (he sounded great) as well as two guys playing soft songs on acoustic guitar and bongo drums. Everything was beautiful except for the millions of stairs you have to climb to get anywhere. Sacre Coeur is a refreshing church in Paris because it is white and not gothic; it was done more in the Art Deco style and has curved Byzantine domes (Dantzel obviously has been talking to me.) See for yourself.

They really didn’t want anybody taking pictures inside, so we had to sneak a couple. Here is some of the inside of the big dome.

Here is a stained glass window that Dantzel really liked.

The best part is that you can walk to the top (after paying a small fee of course) and get an awesome view of the city. Okay, so walking the 300 steps in a short, narrow spiraling staircase with a baby on your back isn’t that fun, but it was worth it. Here are a couple of the shots we got from the top.

Coming back down we saw a crazy looking mime-ish guy.

After Sacre Coeur, we took the metro to the Arche de Triomphe! This is a pretty cool place. I think it is the biggest intersection in the world. It probably takes 20 minutes just to walk around the whole thing.

Beneath it they have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame.

At the top there is a great view of course. Here is Sacre Coeur on top of Montmartre.

Here is the business district.

Here I am so excited to be in front of the Champs Elysees, the famous street leading to the center of old Paris.

Last but not least the Eiffel Tower. As you can see Dantzel wants to take it home with her and I want to destroy it for some reason.

Hungry and tired, we took the typical route to our hotel – via the Latin Quarter, or student district. We walked past the Sorbonne and the Pantheon every night. After buying souvenirs, we got some delicious take-out Indian food. The next day we packed up and left about noon. Then it was Au Revoir, Paris, Au Revoir!