Day
Seven: 4/29
Today we ventured a bit outside the city of Paris and went
to Monte-Martre to 
see the Sacre-Coeur. This is a nice 
little village. There are lots
of places to eat and buy pastries or bread.
Neither of us had eaten breakfast yet, so we stopped and we had yummy
crepes with ham and cheese for breakfast
After breakfast we took the funicular to the top of the hill. This was pretty cool, and we got to ride for free as our travel cards covered the ride. We also noticed a number of people hopping over the turn styles to avoid paying the fee.
We walked to the top of the
Dome. Our legs are tired! We don’t need
to worry about missing our stair stepping equipment on this trip. The view was
incredible and you could see all of Paris from here. After taking in the view,
we walked back down and exited through the crypt and then the church. The crypt
can definitely be skipped for those of you who are thinking about making the
trip. The best part of the tour is the Dome.
We took the funicular back down the hill and then found a
bakery to buy some baguettes. We had
just missed the little train that runs around Monte-Marte, so we decided to
take the metro back to town where we headed for the 
Louvre.
It was time to go see all that wonderful artwork and sculptures we had
only heard about. For those of you that
know Steve has been to Europe before, the Louvre
was one of the things he missed while in Paris. There was a large line, but it
moved pretty quickly. No more than
about 15 minutes was wasted in line.
The line is mostly because they have a metal detector for backpacks and
purses.
Angie decided that the French must really love their dogs (unless it’s all the tourists?). There were dogs everywhere and their owners took them into all the public places we visited.
It turns out that there was also a partial strike at the Louvre, so it too was free to enter. We wonder if a place has a strike they have to give free admission? Perhaps this is some French law? If you remember from yesterday’s notes, the metro line was free with its strike. Also, are the workers only allowed to have partial strikes (only a small part of the Louvre was closed and yesterday the metro still ran just not as often)? Steve remembers from his last trip that Italy had a train strike, but the International trains still ran, even though the Italian railway workers manned them.
Inside the Louvre, we walked
quickly to see some special highlights that we didn’t want to miss. We saw three famous paintings - the Mona
Lisa by Da Vinci, the Raft of the Medusa by Gericault, and The Lacemaker by
Vermeer. The Mona Lisa was mobbed. They should have a moving walkway, which
takes people past it, but instead there’s just a gigantic room packed with
people trying to edge to the front and have their picture taken with the
painting. 
Okay, that was enough of the
paintings; it was time to see some sculptures.
We saw four famous sculptures – the Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s Dying
Slave, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Marly Horses by Coustou. The Louvre was an amazing museum; you could
easily spend days or weeks in there in order to fully appreciate everything. We
wished we had more time to spend there.
Perhaps we will on our next trip?
We left the Louvre after shopping for a DVD at the gift shop. We took the metro back to the hotel and had dinner at 38 Eiffel (another good French restaurant). There was a waiting line for a table, so they gave us a free beverage while we were waiting. This was a drink we had never had; it was called Kir. It tasted like a grape spritzer. It was pretty good. Now I do not know of any place in the US that would give you a free drink on the house because they were full!
The view of the Eiffel tower from our hotel room is wonderful at night! They light up the entire tower at night. Then, about an hour before they close, the lights start blinking up and down the tower and we have our own private light show. It’s great! Angie really likes France. I am sure she will want to come back again.
We headed back to the room for the night.