rue de Montorgueil and Montmartre

Our apartment was on the 5th floor of this old building, with heavy doors and a narrow winding staircase, and two elevators. We don't think there were any other apartments on our side of the building -- some business on the first floor, and people using the other elevators, but we felt quite alone in our suite. It was a lovely space.

We spent another really good day wandering the streets of Paris on bikes and on foot. Steve and Liesl went foraging for our morning pastries, hitting another one of the boulangeries on Steve's list. And then we biked into the 10th Arrondissement, because Steve had read about some cool hidden alleys -- you had to wait for someone to let you in, but then there were beautiful gardens and walkways, hidden from the busy street. We managed to get into one, and it was flowered and perfumed with honeysuckle, but maybe not worth a side trip.

So then we biked to the rue Montorgueil, an area known for food shops and restaurants. There were uncountable patisseries, gelaterias, chocolaterias, boulangeries, cafes, bistros, fromageries, fruit stands, etc etc. We got cappuccinos, baguettes, foccaccia, olive bread, cheese, fruit, and wandered looking at everything and nibbling.

The kids were tired and ready to zone out for a bit, so Steve and I walked up to Montmartre by ourselves. The Basilica of Sacre Coeur was just gorgeous and the streets surrounding the hillside were perfectly, stereotypically European -- narrow, winding streets of cobblestones, lots of little shops lining the streets. At the top of the hill was an art market, with many vendors drawing caricatures and portraits of the tourists, and selling paintings of the city. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we went back to the hotel, picked up the kids, and walked back up to show them the church, the views of the city, and to browse the art in the market. We bought three oil pastels from an artist we liked. And then we had dinner - a lighter meal than last night!

 

 

We had to switch hotels for our last night in Paris, because we had originally thought about taking a day trip to Compiegne today and staying there overnight. But we decided to simplify logistics and stay here, but we couldn't remain in our first apartment. C'est la vie. Nice views out the windows from our new place.