Paris - Montmartre

Saturday 3 January

Despite best intentions, we don't quite make it out and about by 9, but 10 wasn't too bad. Down to the Metro and up to Montmartre. It is a beautiful day and the dome of Sacre Coeur glows in the sunshine. It is a little hazy, but the view of Paris is beautiful. As we wander around inside Sacre Coeur, a glimpse of a nun in full traditional habit talking on a mobile phone was an interesting juxtaposition of the old and the new!

Out to Place du Tertre with all its artists and nothing appears to have changed - paintings are the same tourist paintings, hawkers wanting to do cutouts and portraits of everyone are still everywhere - this really is tourist central. We grab some petit dejeuner and start walking down the hill - we spot the last remaining vineyard with the Lapin Agile below, wander past 54 Rue Lepic where Vincent Van Gogh lived with his brother for a couple of years and finish in Place des Abbesses where a mosaic wall has 'I Love You' in 311 languages symbolising romance, street art and international cooperation.

Back on to the metro and a re-visit to Pere Lachaise cemetry - this time it is open. We pay a visit to Abelard and Heloise, Jim Morrison, Chopin, Rossini, Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein and Oscar Wilde's tomb covered in 'kisses' among others, but again, despite the sun, the cold is taking its toll and we head back to the apartment for a break. The cold shouldn't be effecting us too badly though - an indicator on the way back tells us the temperature has rocketed all the way up to 3C!!!

Bronwen feeling a bit of the toll of poor sleep, cold and walking so takes a complete break while Steve, Simon and Rose take a gamble that the Eiffel Tower won't be too much of a nightmare. Well, you think we would have learnt by now - Saturday afternoon on the (hopefully) last weekend of the European holidays and the queue to get up to level 2 is about 1 1/2 hours with a lovely little electronic sign telling us that the wait to get from level 2 to the top is '> 45 minutes'. A quick discussion and we decide that we will try our luck another day - but we are up close and personal with 'La Tour' and this seems to provide a degree of satisfaction to Rose and Simon. Pizza picked up on the way back to the apartment provides a fine end to the day.