Paris - the day before IT happens back home....

Today was relatively uneventful, but still fun.  Switching hotels was not only a not great idea, but it also took time out of my day to bring my stuff there this morning and get back and forth to the sights.  It's less than a mile from my other hotel, but my other hotel was a relatively easy walking distance to Notre Dame, so it was easy to get into the thick of things.  I rolled my bag through Luxembourg Gardens to get here and then unnecessarily walked around the block, ya know, for the fun of it and whatever (these little hotels are not well marked!).   So, this one is not great, but it's good enough and I'm saving money for my next adventure.  I am also now assured that the new hotel is in a safe neighborhood because on my way back from dinner I noticed that there is a condom machine on the corner.  Safe!  :p

I was pretty sure that I was sorta on the route that the orange line of the tour bus went when I took it on Tuesday, so I headed off in the direction that seemed familiar.  Ahoy!  I saw the three cafes that were discussed on the bus's audio when I went through early in the week.  Woo hoo!  I strolled the neighborhood (Montparnasse) a bit and then tracked down a tour bus stop.  I didn't wait too long there and while I did I was munching on the most amazing chocolate croissant ever - there was a huge BLOCK of chocolate inside the thing!  Yum.  I only needed to be on that bus a stop or two to switch to the green line which would bring me to the yellow to get to Montmartre.  A decent amount of waiting, but not too bad.  While waiting at the first stop, I got to see a van with a police escort...followed by paparazzi on motorcycles!  They are just as reckless and absurd as imagined.  Of course, most of the motorcycle/scooter drivers here strike me as somewhat suicidal at rush hour.  I assume they were just trying to keep up to get whoever it was when he/she got out because the car windows were dark, but they still made a nuisance of themselves.  Didn't have time to get a pic. 

How cool is this?  The sign for the bus stop has a USB port so you can charge your phone!!

Finally made it to Sacre Coeur!!  It is quite beautiful but, alas, the view was not great due to haze.  Skies were perfectly clear, but everything looked fuzzy at city level.  :(  It's cute up at the top of that big hill though. 

Lots of artists ripping off tourists.  I let a guy take me for 10 euro - I never had a portrait done before and they looked cold and hungry so why not?  He wanted 60-120 euros.  Ha!  That guy should be retired by now if he's making 120 euros for 10 minutes of bad drawing.  Hmmm...new career?  I draw badly!

I strolled about and had a big lunch, accompanied by a glimpse through a break in a curtain of a show a whole bunch of old French people were being "treated" to.  There was an awesome female singer, but the guys did a combo of singing, impressions, and seemingly wacky storytelling, the charm of which was lost to those of us who can't speak French.  It seemed pretty irritating and this was my least good meal, but it was still ok.  I had the formule again - quiche Lorraine (not half as good as the one at Musee d'Orsay, steak au poivre (Tim makes better steak!), and a little chocolate cake which was pretty darn good.

I'm a serious eater, but I don't think anyone could put away all of this meal. 

All 3 courses for just 16 euro!

The bus back to the main attractions was crawling along in the afternoon traffic so I got off at Place de la Republique and walked through a cute neighborhood back to my "hub" - Notre Dame.  I explored some alleys filled with restaurants and shops for a while and then caught the last bus of the day back to my hotel.  Hotel, not great, but fine.  I settled in, charged some electronics, and headed out to find dinner.  The guy at the desk insisted on taking my room key while I was out.  I hate that, but whatevs.  It's not like they don't have a copy.  I ended up at a cute little place and had a nice salmon steak with veggies.  Ya gotta end with coffee here so I got the café gourmand - espresso with three little desserts.  :)  They were ok and I was getting full so I left a fair amount behind.  There's too much food, too little time. 

Not sure what happened to the salmon pic.  This looks nicer anyway.

I was torn about what to do tomorrow - Versailles, the Louvre, more wandering, a full day trip away from Paris?  I decided to go with what makes the most sense.  I'm right here and the Louvre is right here and everyone says, "ya gotta go to the Louvre!!", and I should, so I'm going.  I booked a skip-the-line ticket while eating dinner and it hardly costs more than it would to get a regular ticket plus audio guide, so it's totally worth it.  I also researched ways to get to the Louvre from here.  My bus ticket expired today.  After looking at all the options, including buying another ticket, it looks like walking makes the most sense.  It's just under 2 miles which is easy.  I just need to get my butt up and out early enough to get there by 10.  I can do it!  :)

Oh, those scamps at Charlie Hebdo.  For those of you who can't work out the French, the options appear to be:  espresso, hot chocolate, coffee without sugar, and BOMB!  <sigh>  #jesuischarlie

Not many pics today.  I was mostly in neighborhoods which, while lovely, are just more pretty buildings with iron balconies and I have plenty of pics of those so I was restrained.