Paris Day 1: The Churches

Sarah and I had not planned to visit two cathedrals today; it just kind of happened. And the best part? They were both free!

What we had planned to do was go for a backstage tour of the Grand Rex Cinema, but they were closed. So I bought a purse, and we went back to our hostel to drop off some stuff.

Sacré-Coeur Basilica is within walking distance from our hostel, so we went there for lack of anything else to do. There were a lot of stairs, some fountains, and the view was amazing. The church itself was beautiful, too.

On our way back we got some postcards and souvenirs, and looked in a chocolate shop that had detailed chocolate sculptures of L’Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and other cool landmarks and things. Then we once again found ourselves at the hostel, unsure how to spend the rest of our day.

After some research, we decided on The Marais, the shopping part of Paris, so I’ve heard. We took the Metro to Bastille Station and saw the opera building there, then walked around for a bit, popping into whatever shops looked interesting until we came across a museum. We spent a good hour or two in there, and then we wandered around until we hit the Siene River. We could see the Notre Dame over the roofs across the river, and it didn’t look like it was too far, so we went there next. Unlike the last church, it didn’t have any stairs but it had a line of people waiting to enter. The line moved quickly and we soon got to see the beautiful insides of the famous cathedral.

Afterwards, we found the nearest metro station and returned to the area near our hostel. From there we set out in search of something for dinner and found a nice place that was far enough from Sacré-Coeur that it wasn’t overpriced. I had tartare for the first time in my life, followed by some delicious crème brulée, and then we returned to our new room.

This room is a definite improvement from the last, and I think we’ll be very happy staying here for the rest of our trip.