Bohemian Montmarte

A trip to the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur...invaders! (okay, so the line is something like "Sacre bleu, invaders!" from Beauty&theBeast as spoken by Lumier, I believe)...I couldn't resist.

On to the adventure...
The day began with an epic metro ride to Sacre Coeur, the white church with a spectacular view. After the climb to the church, complete with a level 8 stairmaster workout to get rid of those crepes, we did level 10 stairmaster up to the dome (worked off some of the baguettes with that one) and saw the most incredible 360 degree view of Paris. Still a little foggy but we managed to find the ferris wheel by the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, of course.


After our cardio workout we ended up at lunch. Moules frites (mussels and fries) followed by French onion soup. And an entire baguette. Fantastic, obviously.

We then continued on our walking tour, past the vineyard that produces undrinkable wine (they have a festival for it every October. Hey, at least its cheap!) some charming restaurants and a gaggle of artists who were painting or drawing everything from silhouettes and caricatures to entire landscapes of Paris. We kept wandering by the creperies, boulangeries, mimes, and tourists to rue Lepic No. 54, the house where Van Gogh lived. We ended at another church (the first brick one I've seen so far) and went to a garden with a wall that says "I love you" in 311 languages. I think some hooligans may have added a few more languages to the wall, but their additions definitely didn't say "I love you"...

Anyway, we concluded our trip with the Red Light District. A tranny gave us directions for the last leg of the journey complete with "porno shops", the erotic museum, and more "live shows" than I could count. The Moulin Rouge itself would have probably been cooler at night, but we got some good pictures. It's celebrating its 120th year in business (I hope none of the original dancers are still dancing...its a topless show, I'm just saying gravity might be cruel...)

We took the metro to le Cafe Angelina, the favorite hangout of Audrey Hepburn. We ordered the most fantastic hot chocolate, literally melted chocolate in my mouth. So good. We also got the Mont Blanc, a cupcake type pastry but it was really light and had an indeterminable taste to it. We were undecided on if it was good. The hot chocolate- no question, it's amazing.

All in all, a productive sightseeing day, I know not very exciting yet but there's still plenty of time and wine for the rest of the trip.

SIDE NOTE: there have been countless cars passing by and apartment windows blasting Michael Jackson. The French are definitely mourning his loss. I started my day with "Man in the Mirror" and "The Way You Make Me Feel". What an inspiration to us all. RIP.


xoxo,
- The (wo)Man in the Mirror. Well, my mirror at least.