Today we had a lazy start, which worked in my favor because I'd been wanting to try the famous Berthillon ice cream parlor, conveniently located right down the street from our hotel, but hadn't had a chance to squeeze it into our jam-packed itinerary. Our late start meant I could pop in just before lunch without the shame of trying to eat ice cream for breakfast. Not that there's anything shameful about a frozen treat as delicious as this one!
Our plan for the day was to spend the morning exploring Montmarte and the afternoon wandering Saint Germain. Since we already covered Saint Germain during our walk to the Orsay, our afternoon was wide open; hence, the lazy start. When we finally arrived in Montmarte, the first stop, of course, was Sacré-Coeur which we've already seen from afar from both the Arc de Triomphe and Tour Eiffel.
We were able to climb our final flight of narrow spiral stairs to the dome to see the city from its largest hill. Despite the crowds on the steps outside, we were alone up there except for one other couple which made it seem almost like our little secret.
After touring the inside, we walked to a smaller church practically next door, Saint-Pierre de Montmarte. By now I was not at all surprised that James wanted to peek inside, despite the fact that this little church was not nearly as impressive as the other ones we've seen.
We walked around Montmarte a little bit more before we realized that if we wanted to make our next stop, we needed to head back to the Métro immediately, with just a quick pause at the bottom of the hill to see the Moulin Rouge.
The reason we ended up cutting our visit to Montmarte short was because James decided at the last minute that he'd like to see the Catacombes de Paris which are on the complete opposite side of the city. We made it all the way over there and were second in line when they cut us off for closing. He was sad.
I cheered him up by finding him another church. This time, Saint-Sulpice.
We then decided to walk to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which we hadn't planned on visiting knowing that, like the Tuileries, it wouldn't have quite the same splendor in the dead of winter. It ended up being a great idea, because at the entrance to the gardens, we found a temporary Cézanne exhibit at the Musée du Luxembourg. Bonus Impressionism!
Our walk back toward the hotel led us to cute alley off our favorite street from our first day here, rue Saint-André des Arts. We found a nice spot for dinner right off the alley, but since it was still a little early for the French, we decided to waste some time in the corner pub, where James ordered himself a beer (and one for me too) for the first time in what might have been a decade.
We had so much fun hanging out at the pub before dinner that we decided to go back for a night cap afterwards too. Who knew having a few drinks could be so fun? I did, and I think James remembered too.
On our walk home we took one last (blurry) shot to mark the end of our trip. (We did spend the night at a bar, after all.) Au revoir, Paris!
