December Part 3 (Dec. 19)

Our third full day in Paris, we returned to the Eiffel Tower to see it during the day and try to go up in it. Of course, because of cold weather, we could only go up to the first floor, so we did that. We were going to try to take the stairs up, but we accidentally got in line for the elevator instead, so we just took that.

View towards Montmarte (you can see Sacre Coeur) from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower

The first floor platform was much bigger than I realized it would be. There are walkways the whole way around, and there's also a gift shop, a museum, and even a restaurant! And even though we weren't able to make it up any higher than the first floor, we still got some great views of the city.

Sacre Coeur in the snow

After the Eiffel Tower, we headed over to Montmarte. I was very excited to go there since it was one of the places Jenny and I had gone on our short day trip to Paris earlier in the month, and I thought it was amazing. I think that the inside of Sacre Coeur is more amazing than the inside of Notre Dame - it's more solemn and seems more sacred, and there's no photography allowed whatsoever. The ceiling of Sacre Coeur is an incredible dome with images of Jesus, Mary, and other biblical figures all over it.

View of the city from the steps of Sacre Coeur

And the view of Paris from in front of Sacre Coeur is, I think, the best one I saw (although this might have changed if we'd been able to go up in the towers of Notre Dame or past the first floor of the Eiffel Tower). Sacre Coeur was definitely one of my favorite places we visited in all of Paris, even though it was my second time going there.

The artist's square in Montmarte

After seeing Sacre Coeur, we explored some more of the surrounding area, Montmarte. There weren't nearly as many artists out as when Jenny and I had come before, probably because of the cold. We saw Picasso's old workshop, and some of the famous windmills scattered throughout the neighborhood. We also saw the Moulin Rouge! After exploring for a while, we went to eat dinner at a restaurant a friend of Jenny's had recommended, Refuge des Fondues. It was very crowded and pretty fun. Part of their schtick is that the waiters joke and make fun of the customers, but that was kind of lost on all of us except Jenny since we don't speak French, so they mostly left us alone. Also, they give you your drinks in baby bottles!

Sacre Coeur at night

After eating dinner, we headed back to Sacre Coeur so that we could see it at night. We went back up the hill, and got a nighttime view of the city, and we saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour, but it didn't do a light show like it had when we'd been there. We then headed back to the apartment to get some sleep before our final full day in Paris, which I will write about some time soon!