Facing brave new worlds

Bonsoir!

Well, today we ventured forth onto the Metro.  As you know, we mastered the RER, which is the rail system.  The Metro, on the other hand, runs underground as well but is similar to our RTA rapid transit lines.  They look like the trains but stop many more times and there are more options of switching lines.  Much, much more crowded as well.  But we did it!  Much to our chagrin......

We took the metro 4 to Montmarte based on the book client Barbara Byrnes lent me called 24 great walks in Paris.  Based on the book, we would get off at Anvers metro station and walk a bit until we reach Sacre-Coeur.  Well, past sex shops, trans sex shops, gay sex shops and just plain yukky sex shops we found our way to something I can only describe as breathtaking!  More steps - the French LOVE steps!  Once we reached the top and the chapel it was truly breathtaking....literally!  We were breathless....I guess that coissant we had to give us some energy wasn't what we needed.  It wasn't french perfection in my quest for the perfect coissant either.

Once we finished our visit of Sacre-Coeur we meandered down streets and alleys, totally forgetting to follow the book.  I believe I found a cafe Charmayne really wanted us to visit but she couldn't remember the name.  At that point I decided to start reading the book and we tried to find our way and get on track.  Montmarte can only be described as very quaint, where there is a tiny vineyard right along the road in someones backyard (so to speak).  It is truly a starving artists paradise with many hilly winding roads and alleyways to wander down.  It certainly is quaint but so very different than central Paris.  We found a chocolate shoppe (Sycre Matinal Douceur) and did some comparison sampling.  Interesting!  I am a true dark chocolate caramel lover so we got a dark chocolate caramel and split it (yes that is what we have been doing to keep my weight from going totally haywire).  To my surprise the taste was caramel but the texture certainly was not.  I can only describe it as a solid truffle center that tasted caramelly.  We both much prefer our Maison Larnicol Meilleur Ouvrier de France chocolate shoppe near our apartment.  Anyway digressing! We kept wandering the streets and found the apartment Vincent VanGogh spent his starving artist years and ended up at Moulin Rouge.  Moulin Rouge in the daylight is rather seedy looking. I have seen pics at night when its lit up and its quite lively but daytime....not so much!

We found a local Starbucks and wondered in to get a jolt and toilette break.  After some serious thought, we decided our original plans of spending the entire day in Montmarte wasn't such a good idea since we would then have to head back to the Metro thru seedy sex shoppe part of town again so off we went....back to familiar grounds.

Once off the metro we had a late lunch at the Bistro Pont Neuf so I could have a glass of wine and my beloved tomato, walnut, goat cheese on toast salad.  Yummy!  We were once again waited on by a jovial waiter who refered to me as 'babee"....

The weather is once again just perfect so we strolled along the streets without any hurry to our apartment.  We wondered down alleys we had not seen before and eventually found our way back to take a well needed break. 

We lounged for a couple hours then decided to stroll the streets once again.  It is just so beautiful out its just too hard to stay away.  We wondered everywhere, discovering new shoppes we had not seen before.  There is a very french little alley that has huge iron gates at each end that are closed each evening.  Wondering down the alley is so french.  We stopped in LaFare Premiere Pression Provence, which is an herb, vinegar, olive oil and pestos, etc from Provence area.  I sampled probably the most aromatic olive oil I've ever had.  It was light enough to drink, I think, and tasted almost like the olives were grown amongst lavender.  Heavenly.

We ventured off to try and locate something light to eat for dinner.  We opted for 3 frommage pizza of all things.  Anyone who knows me knows I cannot eat pizza so I had a couple pieces of leftover coissants we bought at a local baker in Montmarte and a couple bites of pizza.  We also stopped at our favorite chocolatier and bought some samples of different chocolates than we have had before.  They also had us sample the french macaron, which is soooo not like our macaroons in the states.  The flavored gel or creme is sandwiched between two cookies that seem to be merangue in texture.  Okay but not all that they are touted to be.  Nothing we would buy for sure.  Funny how things sometimes work in your favor!

We are now in for the evening to savor thoughts of our day and start thinking about what adventures tomorrow will bring.

Until then - auvoir!