After a reasonably good sleep on the overnight train, we made our way to the hostel but were too early to check in so headed to a local market which was crammed full of produce, people and short tempers! We bought some strawberries and cherries and got out! We headed down to a famous cemetery, did the obligatory walk to Jim Morrison's gravesite and looped back around to the hostel via a very nice man selling crepes! Colleen and I shared an incredibly tasty banana and nutella crepe, yum-o!
At the time of checking in, we started having a few Friday the 13th kinda issues; one of our mattresses had a huge hole where the springs had given out and Sibel and Selen didn't even have mattresses! Unfortunately, management was very....French (rude, no eye contact and no apologies as a start) and the girls weren't too happy for most of the day. Nevertheless, we headed out to the Louvre and I surprised myself by actually enjoying an art gallery - the Louvre actually uses it's natural light, it's fantastic, I don't feel like I'm in a claustrophobic, artificially lit maze!
In the pyramid at the Louvre
After a few hours there, we were pretty starved but knew all too well that we were right in the tourist mecca of Paris with it's tourist and well-to-do prices, so Selen asked one of the Louvre information girls where she would recommend and we walked for a few minutes to a busy little bistro that had the most amazing and simple French food - win for the team!
The second day in Paris we took the train towards the Eiffel tower and found a brilliant little market selling everything from flowers, to ready made paella and other dishes, to seafood, cheese (drool!), breads, clothes and more. We took our time and decided we had to detour back for lunch (Sibel's hectic Paris schedule had to accommodate it!).
Cheese at the market!
By the time we got to the Eiffel tower it was past eleven am and the queues were up to two hundred meters long in some places, we decided to take the stairs up to the second level to avoid some of the queue. The views were pretty spectacular, I even saw the obligatory proposal on the top deck!
The fab four outside the Eiffel Tower.
View from the second level of the Eiffel Tower
We had lunch back at the market (yum to a shared, hot, ham and mustard roll), and then headed for the Arc de Triomph.
Outside the Arc de Triomph, Selen's a little excited methinks!
Selen peeled off to explore, and ended up watching a movie(!) and the rest of us wandered down des Champs Elyseess. Sibel headed down to Musee D'Orsay to take in some impressionist pieces and colleen and I wandered down to Notre Dame.
Colleen and I beside the Seine, walking up towards Notre Dame.
Outside Notre Dame!
I wasn't feeling well so headed back home, but walked through a very swish part of town, where everyone was out to be seen outside the cafes, relaxing with an air of casualness that belied the effort taken to dress just so!
The next day we headed down towards a big open air market Sibel had heard about and stumbled upon a flea market nearby to our hotel. The girls bought three Steig Larsson books for $5, in English, so we will be entertained on the beaches in he Greek islands. We continued down to the open air market near the Bastille roundabout, picked up a few things for lunch (i bought the most amazing olive bread) and scarves for gifts and caught the metro across to Montmarte.
The metro was more eventual than we had imagined, with two guys hopping on in suits. I noted to Colleen that 'those guys have stripper pants on' as I could see Velcro tabs and a flash of underwear on the side. They started talking to the carriage in French, and then pressed play on their jukebox, with the 'hot stuff' song ringing out! We were very amused and became even more so when the guys proceeded to strip down to their undies! There was poor little four year old in a pram right in front of them who wasn't sure quite what was going on; and the elderly lady who hopped on he train just as their pants were whipped off in front of her got quite a shock!
Sitting on the steps outside Sacre Cour, there are a few hundred people milling around. Some are taking their tourist snaps, others are sitting on the steps outside the church waiting for their counterparts and more are sitting on the steps leading down the hill, being entertained by the busker belting out cold play and a guy knocking a soccer ball around while he balances on a pedestal overlooking the amazing view of Paris. The bell of the Montmarte tourist train peels and I'm feeling quite reptilian enjoying the sun.
We continued from there to a nearby artists market and then to moulin rouge for obligatory photos.
Up the street is the cafe from the movie 'Amelie', which is one of Sibel's favourites, so we had a coffee there.
We had an early night as we were up at the crazy hour of three am to catch our easyJet flight to Athens.
I'll put some more photos up when I get home, but for now thanks to Coll for all the iPhone shots!
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