Sacrebleu

Gayle and I had no tickets to anything today.  Last night while we looked out at the skyline, Sacre Coeur stood out prominently on the high hill.  I said, “We have to go there tomorrow.”  She can never remember what it is called so she calls it sacrebleu, which is an expression we first learned from Pepe Le Pew cartoons.  We took our time getting ready this morning.  We devoured our Kouign Amann pastries….damn they are good!  Then we headed down to the outdoor cafe on the corner for some caffeine and some people watching.  Eventually we started walking, thinking that if we called for an Uber on a one way street headed to Sacre Coeur we could get there in half the time.  Gayle had found the address on Sacre Coeur’s website for how to get to the back of the church and take an elevator up to the sanctuary.  She keyed in that address.  We knew it would be a bit of a ride and so we relaxed.  But the ride was taking longer than it should and so I looked up where the driver was on Google Maps and we were not even close to Sacre Coeur.  I told him we were not going to the right place and he stopped the car.  We told him where we wanted to go and he headed that way.  He kept sighing.  He was a bit put out but he gathered himself pretty quickly.  When we got there we were not at the very bottom of the hill but we were also not near an elevator. There were still too many steps for Gayle.  She said she would wait for me and enjoy the view.  

I climbed to the top of the stairs which were crowded with tourists.  Everywhere you turn there are men selling locks and water. Locks take up every available spot in the area.  I read a novel one time about a man whose job it was to go around London cutting locks off of bridges.  

When I got to the top there was a guitarist singing “Les Champs-Elysees”.  Tourists were taking turns singing with him and getting their photos taken as the line to get through security and inside the church snaked around to the back of the building.  I had no desire to spend my day waiting in line to get into Sacre Coeur.  Although, I might have enjoyed singing with the guitarist.  I descended the stairs and found Gayle watching the funicular. 

We walked over to Place Tertre in search of food.  With the mix up in directions we didn’t arrive to Sacre Coeur until after 1 p.m.  We sat at an outside cafe and ordered lunch, making sure we got more frites.  Our waiter was excellent and a bit of a flirt.  Gayle asked if she could take his photo and he gave us his best pose then demanded to see the phone so he could show his fellow servers how handsome he is.

We walked around the Place Tertre and admired the desserts in the windows and watched as people had their portraits or caricatures done.  

Now to get back off this high hill…we headed back to Sacre Coeur in search of a taxi.

We were rewarded with a nice view of the Eiffel Tower.  She does know how to show off.

Back at the apartment Gayle opted for rest and I headed out to do some souvenir shopping.  I took the Metro to the Passage Jouffroy. 

I browsed through shops. 

I like to get a pair of earrings when I travel.  When I wear them I am reminded of my trip.  But nothing caught my eye.  So I got back on the Metro and headed back to the Marais.  There is a jewelry store near our AirBnB that has a pair of earrings in the window that I really like but they were closed when I first admired the earrings.  They were open today and I bought the earrings.  I asked the woman what they were and she translated the stone for me:  ruby root.

I went back to our rental then.  I need to pack for tomorrow but I feel completely unmotivated to do so.  Gayle and I went out to find dinner and settled at an outdoor cafe on a corner that would be good for people and dog watching.  I decided to try chicken fracissee.  I liked it.  Back in our apartment we packed for our long trip home tomorrow and went to bed early.  We will have a very long day tomorrow that will bring my month long adventure in Europe to an end.