Paris

We set off at the ungodly hour of 6.30am. The National

Express got us to Victoria by about quarter past nine, and we struggled

through the rush hour traffic on the underground to get to Waterloo by

just after 9.30. Checking in for the Eurostar is more like going to an

airport than catching a train, but we managed to get through OK, aside

from getting felt up by the staff at the metal detector (I forgot to

take my wallet out first....)! Arrived at the Gare du Nord at 2.20pm

local time.

I have to say that I much prefer the Metro to the

London Underground. It's more spacious, far less crowded, and much

easier to navigate in my humble opinion. And cheaper too - we bought

Paris Visite tickets at Waterloo, which gave us unlimited travel for 3

days, for a pretty decent price. It got us to the hotel very easily

and we then ran off to

explore Montmartre.

We had to walk through a fairly run-down, and

slightly rough area to get to the Butte, but once we started climbing

the (many, many) steps we were in a much more picturesque, and

consequently more touristy, area. There's a great view of the city from

the top though, and Sacre Coeur is certainly impressive. We had a look

round the church first, which was nice, but as it's fairly modern

(completed 1914) not _that_ interesting, we then wandered round the top

of the hill, and through Place du Tertre, which is where all the

artists hang out and occasionly pester you to have your portrait done

(I declined, obviously). Then on down rue Lepic (to find the restaurant

I'd booked for the next day), past the windmills, and on to Montmartre

cemetery. It's really pretty - those of you who don't have such a

morbid turn of mind probably won't understand, but really it is! It's

very different to British cemeteries - a lot of the memorials aren't

just gravestones, they're like little houses, or chapels I s'pose,

rectangular, tall and thin, with pointed roofs, and often quite

elaborate carving. It really was a necropolis, a city of the dead.

There were even streets, with street names!

We left just before

they closed the gates, and walked past the Moulin Rouge, through a bit

of the red light district before chickening out and escaping back up

the hill. We weren't very hungry so just grabbed a takeaway hotdog (in

a baguette with grilled cheese on top - different...) which we ate in

front of Sacre Coeur looking out over Paris as the sun set.