July 17 Paris

July 17
Darlene and Paulette are standing on a "street" in Montmartre, which is a Paris neighbourhood built on the only large hill in Paris.

These artists are setting up shop in the main square in Montmartre, called Place Tertre. The place looks empty bacause we were there early in the morning. By 10:00am, the place is packed with tourists, and these artists hustle them to have their picture painted, for a hefty fee. They are leaving us alone, either they think we are locals or they are still just waking up.

This is a sculpture along a Montmartre street.

This Montmartre vineyard is the only one left in production within the Paris city limits. Apparently, in past centuries, Montmartre was covered in vineyards.

This is the most famous and largest building in Montmartre, the Basilique Sacré Coeur. It is a fairly new church by European standards, built in the 1870's. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will notice, just below the top dome, windows in sets of three. We took the stairs to those windows, the highest you can go in the church.

There are over 300 steps to the top, no elevator. Here we are, happy to have made it.

The view of Paris from there is amazing. We were told the second highest view of Paris, after the Eiffel Tower.

Looking down to the steps in front of the church.

On the way down.

This is a chapel that is actually in the basement of the church. The basement is called the crypt.

A final view of the church, as we were heading downhill.

Further down, we passed this cemetary. French cemetaries are very different from ours; each of those small stone huts has a family name rather then a person's name.

Back in the centre of Paris, we are in the Tuilerie Gardens. We loved this pond where kids can rent a sailboat. They push them with a stick and the sail catches the wind. That's the Louvre in the background.

This pyramid covers the main entrance to the Louvre.

Here is a part of the Louvre, one of the biggest museums in the world ( 652,000 square ft) and the most visited. It used to be France's Royal Palace until Louis XIV moved the royal court to Versailles.

Darlene and me.

That evening, we took a tour of the river on a boat similar to this one.

We chose a later time so that night would be falling during the cruise.

We are passing under the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge still crossing the Seine within Paris.