Oh how we hate goodbyes. Though we’ve only known them a short time, we feel like we’ve known the Fontbonne family for years. Pascal even called in that he’d be late for work so that he could come with Julie and us to the train station. We know we’re going to see Pascal and Marie soon as they’re coming to Vancouver in September, but it may be a long time until we see Julie again and we’ll really miss her!

We decided that Wolfie, our traveling buddy would take part in our pictures everywhere. Stay tuned for his own blog pages.

Though our original plans had been to go to Ulm, Germany, Sean was really pulling for Paris and I wasn’t particularly attached to the idea of Ulm. So, this very morning we decided, Paris it is!

Once on the train, we looked for reserved seats 53 and 54. The first place we found, there was a police officer in the cabin marked with those seats and when we asked him if we were in the right place, he shook his head, said his friends were joining him there, and closed the door. Huh?!

So I asked someone working there and it turns out we were in the wrong car and needed to move to 1st class. So, right to the other end of the train we dragged our luggage. Again, a man was in our seats–or so we thoughht–so he moved. We changed trains sometime after and it was then that I realized that our first train seats were not, in fact, reserved. The reservations for seats 53 and 54 were for the 2nd train. Whoops! I’ll get this train thing eventually. Though it seems even the people working for the train don’t necessarily get it right all the time either as the guy on that train thought we had marked the date wrong on our passes and ended up accidentally giving us an extra free ride. We won’t likely need it, but that’s 2 free rides we now have available, though probably won’t get a chance to use.

Super excited to get to Paris, this was the first place where we would be arriving with no planned place to stay. Not a problem though. Whoever says that Parisian French are not friendly are wrong, by our experience. Everyone we’ve met so far has been very helpful and almost everyone super friendly! Hotel sorted out in just minutes and we took the Metro there. We did get temporarily lost, but just briefly before we were helped by a few people.

Montmartre

The room is super small and simple, but cheap and relatively convenient as we were able to walk to Sacre Coeur. On our way there, the crowds were thick. We knew we were getting close because of the number of tourists and little souvenir stores. There really is something to be said about the atmosphere of Paris–artistic, chic, and cultured, even when full of sometimes rowdy tourists. And, sadly, surrounding Sacre Coeur were growing numbers of people buying beer from illegal sellers who would scatter whenever they thought the police were near. It must be sad for anyone religious coming to see this iconic sacred place in such a disarray. It was a bit sad for me too. On the flipside, it was also interesting to observe the crowd and to even enjoy the entertainment of a guy singing and another bouncing a soccer ball.

Funny addition to a “no entry” sign

Sacre Coeur, apart from the people around it, is one of my favourite places in Paris. The building is incredible, both inside and out. Though Strasbourg Cathedral is now my favourite, Sacre Coeur is second, and Notre Dame probably third. From the grounds of Sacre Coeur there is also a beautiful view of the city and of the Eiffel Tower, which puts on a light show at night!

Though I was neither hungry or thirsty, we were cold and decided to stop at a restaurant for decaf coffee (Sean) and hot chocolate (me). Being serenaded by a pianist added a nice touch!