Paris -- Day 4

Some kind of party seemed to be happening on the street below our window until about 4:30 a.m.  Sometime after 5 we fell asleep.  When we finally woke up and heard the rain we had a hard time getting up.  We started the day by getting pastries and coffee and then walking over to Luxembourg Garden.  We figured it might be a travesty to be staying this close and not see it.  It would have been a travesty.

Luxembourg Garden houses the French Senate and below the garden is the headquarters for the French Secret Service.

The gardens are lovely, with statues everywhere.

We headed to Sacre-Coeur and rode the funicular up the hill.

There are absolutely no photos allowed inside Sacre-Coeur. Mass began while we were inside.  The acoustics are phenomenal.  The impressive pipe organ was played and a nun sang an aria.  Meanwhile, hundreds of tourists made their way around the outside of the worshipping crowd, snapping pictures and being hushed.  When we made our way outside we found it raining.  We navigated our way through the crowded streets to the Church of Ste. Pierre-de-Montmartre.  It is one of the oldest churches in Paris.  It was founded by King Louis VI and his wife, Adelaide.  Adelaide is entombed in the wall.  The cleaning crew was working at the church and used Adelaide's tomb to prop up the mop.

There are four pillars in the church that probably stood in the Temple to Mars during the Roman times.

A statue of Saint Denis displays him with his head in his hands after being beheaded.

Across from the church is Place du Tertre where the artists of Montmartre sell their art and do portraitures for you as you wait.

We spent quite a bit of time in Montmartre.  We sampled the gelato,visited the bakeries, cheese shops and fruit stands. We got lost for awhile...

...but ended up coming out of the neighborhood right by Moulin Rouge.  Bryan considered going in when he learned they had a giant aquarium.

We took the Metro back to the Place de Concorde in hopes of finding the Orangerie Museum open this time.  Of course, it was pouring rain again when we got off at the stop.

The Orangerie Museum was specially built to show off the water lily paintings of Monet and to display other Impressionist paintings.  They do not allow pictures but we did get a picture of Rodin's Lovers just outside the museum.

We crossed the Seine,

past the Alexander III bridge so that we could see the Hotel des Invalides, where Napoleon's body rests.

By then our feet were shot and our backs ached.  We took the Metro back to our neighborhood and purchased some take-out from a neighborhood bakery.  We know that we need to rest well tonight to be ready for tomorrow's adventure.  We are renting a car at the airport and heading for Mont Saint Michel.  We are both a bit nervous about driving in France.