Last Day in Paris

Honeymoon Day 7 - Paris Day 4

For our last day in Paris we knew we wanted to visit Sacre Coeur and then we figured we would see how long that took and would go from there.

We slept in a little (until 7:45) and then headed out on the Metro North to the Montmarte area of Paris.  Just a few blocks from the Metro we were greeted with the sight of Sacre Coeur on the hill.  This chapel was built at the top of a hill so that it was visible to many from various places throughout Paris and to get to it you have to climb at least 225 stairs.  The chapel is amazing inside and has a beautiful ceiling above the altar.  Pictures were not allowed, but I highly recommend looking it up to see how amazing it is.  As we came out of the chapel and walked around it, rain started to fall and we decided to sit a nearby cafe with a full view of Sacre Coeur and enjoyed a few espressos.  It was quite peaceful.

We bought an umbrella (of course the one I packed was back in our hotel room) and headed out to try to find a nearby museum with works by Dali.  After making one too many wrong turns and the cross streets not being marked on our map, I got a little cranky and we decided to head back to the Metro station and gave up (I don't do well being cold and wet, let alone being lost, cold and wet).  We got back to the Metro station with no problems and decided to head to another museum that we knew how to find.  We skipped to the front of the line with our Paris pass and were amazed by Monet's Water Lily paintings.  There were 8 in total in two massive oval shaped rooms.  Neither of us had any idea there were that many of them or that they were that large and impressive.  He apparently worked on them for the 10 years leading up to his death and even designed the rooms for them to be displayed in.  Very impressive and beautiful.  The museum also had some works by Renoir, Picasso and other French artists that were very impressive as well.  After some lunch we headed back to our room for a nap.  The rain had stopped, but the morning was pretty draining and we were in need of a recharge.

After our nap, we decided that the 225 stairs to Sacre Couer were not enough for the day so we headed back to Notre Dame and got in line to climb to the top.  The line moved pretty quickly and soon we were climbing the 400 stairs to the top of one of the towers.  Keep in mind that there are only so many people allowed on each stairwell at a time and only 20 at a time allowed at the top 1/3 of the cathedral, so we booked it up those stairs (total time up, viewing and back down was less than 45 minutes).  Needless to say were exhausted by the time we got to the top but the view was amazing and well worth it.  And I never realized how tiring going down 400 stairs can be.  And of course every stair was on a spiral staircase that got skinnier and skinnier the closer you got to the top.  Side note, we have yet to see a normal staircase indoors here in Paris, they are all spiral.

We spent the evening sitting outside of Notre Dame, walking the sidewalk shops and enjoying our final meal in Paris (the final crepe count is 7 and creme brûlée count is 2).  We are definitely going to miss the bread, the escargots and the french cuisine, but we are so looking forward to Italy tomorrow.

Our honeymoon is more than half over and although we miss everyone, our puppy and a few other strange things (like ice and not having to wait in line for everything), we are still having a blast.

Love you all!
Kristen & Trent