First of all - GO PIES! Nothing makes my day like beating the pants of Carlton. Love your work boys!!!
Last night we headed out to Montmartre before the Moulin Rouge. Our first stop was past the hotel/hostel I stayed at last time, that my dad and brother have since stayed in two years ago. It's had a huge facelift! Was very old and run down when I was there.
We then walked up to Sacre Coeur. I remembered on the way why part of me detests Paris. I warned Troy of the seedy men who hang around the bottom of the hill here prying on tourists who climb. Last time one of them shoved a bracelet on my wrist and grabbed my arm, thankfully I had my bag with a padlock on it. And sure enough there they were. So we walked through a line of six of them, and as we walked through one of them grabbed Troy. Luckily he shook them off. Makes my blood run cold, the guy shot us the dirtiest look I've ever seen and we ran off.
Got to the top and enjoyed the view even though it was cloudy and raining. We went into Sacre Coeur and a service was on which was nice. Then we headed around the back to the main square and streets of Montmartre. It was just as I remembered it! Bustling, artsy and touristy.
We had a three course meal special at a nice restaurant. Enjoyed some nice wine, snails and salmon for entree, beef and whiting for main and cheese and creme caramel for dessert. Yum!!
Then we walked to the Moulin Rouge. We had fairly good seats at a table about half way back but at the front of the level we were sitting on! The inside was wonderful, I felt like I was in the 20s or something. Original posters still on the pillars, the famous red lights. And then the show began and we had two hours of amazing costumes, dance and even some circus acts which I personally thought were the best part! A man balanced a lady on his head!!! Only complaint was how thin some of the dancers were. Nude dancing, if you wanna do that as a career then by all means, but three of them in particular it made me sick to look at. You could see their ribs, not the kind of positive body image that girl should be working towards. I'm happier with my travel belly thanks :P
But overall it was a great night. We had some yummy champagne included and both agreed we had a great time. We walked back which only took about ten minutes. It was part of the route that Stef and I had to walk alone at 2am on New Years in 2010/2011 when we got stranded. I felt much safer this time - thanks Troy!!!
This morning we allowed ourselves a little bit of a lie in and then packed up, left our bags at the hostel and got the train to Saint Michel. Here we joined the New Europe walking tour, the same company as the one we did in Brussels and I've done in some other cities too. It was a pretty good tour. Our guide's name was Adam and he was an American. We spent three hours walking around in the spitting rain, but he made it really interesting with cool facts and lots of sites!
We walked past the Shakespeare bookshop and then to Notre Dame. Adam told us how it was damaged by revolutionaries in between 1789-1799. Everyone then wanted to demolish it because it was so run down, but then Victor Hugo wrote 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', made it famous and everyone decided it should be kept!
We then saw bullet holes in the side of some buildings from when the allies arrived to liberate Paris in 1944. We passed the Palace of Justice which is where St Chapelle and its stunning stained glass windows and the Conciergerie are - I went to both last time.
We crossed the Seine River and Adam told us the it translates to English to mean clean, healthy and safe - none of which it is!! Then we went to the Love Lock Bridge/Pont des Arts. It's actually now been boarded up and will soon be demolished because the people of Paris have been complaining the locks are polluting the river when cut off and thrown in the river, and like the one in Melbourne the locks are making the bridge too heavy. It looks awful!! But everyone has just started locking padlocks on other bridges anyway so doesn't really make any sense. At the end of the bridge is the Academie Français which decides which words are and aren't French, apparently last year they had a four month debate about whether 'hashtag' should be included in the French language. It wasn't! They made up a new word. How ridiculous!
Then we got to the Louvre, which Adam told us used to be the home of the French royals. In 1678 Louis XIV moved the royal court to Versailles though as I said the other day, as he wanted to be out of the city. Apparently at any one time only 36,000 of the 250,000 works at The Louvre are on display!!
Then we walked through the Tuileries which is the French word for 'tile factory' because one used to be on this site. Last time I was here all the trees were bare and the lake was frozen with ducks walking on it. Very different this time! It was green and lovely, but full of pickpockets. From here we could see the D'Orsay Museum which I loved last time!! It was originally a train station built for the world fair in 1889.
We walked up to the Place de la Concorde which is the site where the guillotine used to stand. During the French Revolution 3000 people were beheaded here including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The guillotine was used for capital punishment in France up until it was banned in 1981 - how insane is that!!!!
From the square we could see the Eiffel Tower and Adam told us it was also built for the 1889 world fair. The Parisians hated it and petitioned to have it dismantled, and a compromise was reached that after 25 years they would take it down. But do the maths, and 25 years later France (and lots of other countries) had bigger things to worry about. It was then used as a communications tower during the war and has stayed put ever since!!
Then Troy and I went our separate ways. He's got a few more days here before he heads home and is meeting up with a girl we met in Brussels. It was sad saying bye and I realised I now won't see anyone from home until mid June!
I continued my way up the Champs Élysées and walked through the hoards of tourists. All the shops except a couple were shut because today is May Day, but I managed to find some macaroons. Had a black currant and a vanilla/raspberry one - mmmm :)
Walked up to the Arc de Triomphe and had a look around. But due to all the monuments and museums being closed because of the public holiday, every single tourist in Paris was out walking! It was choccers in the tunnel walking to the Arc and I felt a little claustrophobic. I also felt really vulnerable alone because today I saw two people get pick pocketed. A man in the queue at the station and then a girl after the walking tour. But it made me 100x more aware so that was the silver lining.
I headed back to the hostel and now I'm killing time until I get the Eurostar. Have been talking about my travels to a Canadian guy and skyped a couple of people.
Can't believe I'm already headed back to London. Tonight I'm staying with my neighbour's aunt who has kindly taken me under her wing whilst I find somewhere to live. I've some flat viewings and a job interview set up. Very nervous and stressed but we will get there!! I've had such a wonderful four months playing tourist. So many amazing experiences, new friends and good times. But keep on reading, they continue for another six months! My blogs for the next three weeks will keep you guys updated about life in London, and then on May 22 I'm off to Iceland.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
PS: The photo of me with my thumbs up was when I got a stranger to take a picture just after mum texted me the footy result - have downloaded and will watch on the train!
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