Paris: Day 2

Today, one of the highlights of the day was the beautiful Mont Martre and Sacre Coeur. Mont Martre involved an entertaining (albeit sketchy) visit to a sex shop and seeing Moulin Rouge in real life instead of just the romanticized version in the movie. Moulin Rouge is one of the most famous cabarets in Paris, and what I liked about it the most were the paintings on the walls depicting shows that I've always thought of typically Parisienne.

I suppose the sex shop was sketchy because it was full of blow-up dolls, which was very odd. Moreover, there were “private showing rooms” whose purpose I could guess, but did not really want to contemplate. In any case, it was fun to laugh at it, but once you've seen one, you've seen them all.

After Moulin Rouge, we walked around and saw several windmills which had turned into cabarets as France moved from an agriculturally oriented society into a consumer-oriented one. We took a tour around Mont Martre, where our tour guide proceeded to tell us about various famous artists who had lived and painted there, including Monet. She described their life-style as very pary oriented, which I'm sure they used to enhance their creativity. It seems most truly groundbreaking creativity requires someone with a very different mind from most other people. Most of the artists our guide described died of syphillis or other STDs, not surprising given their, I supposed you can call it, “living in the moment?” Or maybe “zest for life.”

The most entertaining artist to me was one who mocked the modern art movement by using his pet donkey to create paintings for him. I wish I could remember his name, because that I would get a huge kick out of seeing more donkey paintings!

We also saw a statue coming out of the wall (I couldn't resist taking a picture high-fiving said statue), beautiful gardens, and serene views that inspired the artists in the area. We even passed Deux Moulins, the famous cafe in Amelie. After that area of Mont Martre, we headed to Sacre Coeur.

The detail in Sacre Coeur was absolutely breath-taking. The white curves and shapes of the cathedral were flawlessly designed, and the inside was no exception. The various sculptures and peaceful atmosphere made me want to just sit in the plaza all day, gawking at the view of the city and contemplating human civilization in general. It really is amazing that most inspiring buildings were constructed so long ago, that architechture today still bases itself on similar aesthetic principles that were used for most buildings then.

Outside of Sacre Coeur, I saw many Brazilians, dressed up in soccer jerseys and ready to cheer at the game, either at bars or at the screen by the Eiffel Tower. Amidst the throng of people, artists lurked in the plaza, offering to draw everyone who passed. It must be here that the sketch of me as a baby is from that hangs in my room. I thought about sitting and having another one done (because having two of them from different times would be awesome) but due to limited time, we decided to head to the Louvre.

The Louvre was a lot of fun. Even though we only spent about an hour and a half there, I saw the Mesopotamia wing, some of the Renaissance paintings collection, some Flanders paintings, and a special temporary exhibit in the basement showing how the medieval Louvre looked and the foundation of the original palace. I saw lots of swords and grails that looked like the Holy Grail, in my mind. I even stopped and sketched a painting I particularly liked, a colorful, delightful depiction of a nymph playing a harp.

Then, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. It didn't look like it was that far away from the Louvre on the map and it would be a great opportunity to take pictures of the beautiful walk along the way. I saw the charming Louvre garden, took photos of the Place de Concorde, and I actually thought the modern Louvre pyramids were an interesting contrast with the conventional, detail Palace and the modern fountain heightened the perfect coming-together of old and new, conventional and modern.

Along the way to the Eiffel Tower, I saw beautiful bridges, the armory, the National Assembly, the Seinne, and of course, various people cheering for Brazil and Portugal in the game that had started at 4:00. I thought we might even make it in time for the game, but I definitely under-estimated the length of the walk. I've google mapped the direct route from Notre Dame, close to the hotel, to the Eiffel Tower and the distance is approximately 5.5 km. Considering that we oriented ourselves by seeing the Eiffel Tower and walking towards it, it was even more than that!

In any case, I got amazing, singular pictures and felt accomplished for walking such a large section of Paris. I took so many pictures of the Eiffel Tower that Katie joked that it should definitely have a quota (of course, I take tons of pictures of everything, so I'm sure I could never follow a picture quota).

Even though we didn't make in time for the game, the aftermath was still really fun to see! Brazilians and Portuguese waved each other's flags in their faces, laughing and boasting, due to the 0-0 tie. Considering Brazil did not have Kaka to make goal assists, I was pretty relieved with the result. One group of Brazilians was particularly amusing because they were running around with a flag and chanting Brassssiiiillll so I couldn't resist taking a picture with them!
We also saw an interesting character in a black suit and hat who periodically danced!
We briefly stopped to rest under a tree and I saw a fountain. My feet were a bit sore from the walk, so I dipped my feet in it, which felt wonderful! Deciding that the way back would be too far to walk, we asked some other tourists if they knew where the metro was. They were nice, but seemed pretty unimpressed with the world cup. Given that there were several people bleating on vuvuzuelas, I guess their attitude was understandable. Still, I was happy that I got to hear a vuvuzuela in real life and that I saw World Cup joy! I've never seen so many Brazilians abroad in one place as I did in the Eiffel Tower.

Navigating on the metro back was a bit difficult (we had to ask for directions a few times), but we made it to the hotel just in time to head out for dinner and then on the Batoux-Mouche. We ate dinner at this delicious Middle Eastern called Chez Marianne that offered a variety of “elements” which you put inside of pita bread. We didn't know what anything was, so we ordered all the elements and I feasted on everything, enjoying every bite after a long day. I also drank the best white wine I've ever had; it had a wonderful aftertaste and the cool drink was nice after room-temperature water.

We finished dinner at about 10:30, and our boat was scheduled to leave at 11, so we rushed across a romantic bridge, buildings glowing all around us.
Batoux-Mouche was an amazing experience! Even though I didn't take any photos because my camera doesn't work well at night, the pictures in my mind of the golden Eiffel Tower, the glowing moon, and the City of Light will live on in my mind forever.
After such a wonderful day, we headed back to the hotel. Several people went to Rex, a dance club, but I decided that my feet needed some rest and fell asleep dreaming of dancing along the streets of the City of Light.