Monday part deux

Okay, before I got sidetracked on my ramblings I told you we went to the flea market. We also had a great lunch just outside the flea market (I'll talk more about the food in a separate post), then we headed for the Eiffel Tower again. It really is two different experiences to be at the Eiffel tower in the night and the day. We are overachievers (and cheap), so we climbed the steps instead of taking the elevator. Yep 700 stairs to the second level (you have to take an elevator to get to the very top) 0 Juli is pointing to the proof in the picture below. The second floor is plenty high enough to see everything in Paris. We had picked up some picnic stuff, so we had another picnic on the Eiffel Tower. Oh, BTW, before we got to the Eiffel Tower we went down Rue Cler - a street lauded by Rick Steves as the quintessential Paris experience. Not only was almost everything closed at noon on Monday, it seemd that the locals had been reading Rick Steves guides and turned it into an almost cheezy tourist trap. Meanwhile, back at the Eiffel Tower, we crossed the Seine and climbed to the plaza with a great view of the tower and snapped a few pics, then watched some skaters do some incredibly high jumps - at least 8 feet. We were going to take a Seine cruise but decided against it. We'll do it on a day when we have more time. We then headed up to the mountain of the martyrs - Montmartre - with a stop at Franpriz - a French supermarket for essentials. We got to the top of the hill - both of us huffing and puffing (Montmartre is the second highest point in all of France - free croisants if you can tell me what the highest is) and wandered around the twisting streets filled with throngs of people (unfortunately mostly tourists) enjoying the bohemian atmosphere. We wandered through and found our way to the Basilica Sacre Couer. and joined the throngs of people there sitting on the steps and grass picnicking and listening to musicians play Simon and Garfunkel songs. We sat on the grass with a gorgeous view of Paris and ate another picnic lunch while the sun went down. After another wander through Montmartre, we headed home. Another lovely day in paradise.