Sunday, March 10, 2013

Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower

La Basilique du Sacre Coeur
Stacy and Jason's apartment in Les Halles



On our second day in Paris, we slept late to get over jet lag. Jason, Stacy, Zach and I stopped at the Gulledge's favorite shawarma stand for a bite to eat and we headed through Rue Montorgueil near their (temporary) apartment in Les Halles on our way to Montmartre.


Shawarma!

Rue Montorgueil

Rue Montorgueil is a shopping area with lots of stalls of food--lots of cool things to look at. We loved it!





Gallette des Rois - French King Cake. Kind of an almond pastry - not like Lousiana king cake



Next, we took the metro to Le Basilique du Sacre Coeur. We rode the Funicular up the stairs and got to see inside the Basilica. This is another place Zach and I have visited several times, but we've never been inside! We couldn't take photos inside, but it was so beautiful!

Sacre Coeur has a beautiful view of Paris.

Jason and Stacy at Sacre Coeur
We wandered around the Montmartre, the former bohemian neighborhood near Sacre Coeur and looked at street art. We grabbed a coffee and some cheese and recharged while we were there.

View from Montmartre

Sacre Coeur

View from Sacre Coeur steps

Macarons!

Old windmill in Montmartre

Stairs in Montmarte



Cappuccino in Montmartre

Deeper into Montmarte is the famed Moulin Rouge. I'm a big fan of the movie, and the area is just so funky. We stopped by for a photo and then went nearby to Bistro Chat Noir. The first time I went to this iconic location, a friend dunked her Aggie ring (study abroad). This time, it seemed fitting to drink absinthe... so I tried it. Not my favorite, but it fit the scene :-) Trivia time: Bistro Chat Noir is located in the Pigalle region, on Boulevard de Clichy. Both Pigalle and Clichy are also designs of Christian Louboutin shoes. :-)

absinthe... tastes kind of like licorice.


The one and only Moulin Rouge


Moulin Rouge

Stacy and I jumped on an air grate to take a photo and our hair went crazy!

After Montmatre, we took the metro over to the Eiffel Tower. Three years exactly from this day, Stacy shot our Day After photos. RIGHT HERE. And three years ago exactly, Jason proposed to Stacy. RIGHT HERE. And now, they live in Paris! Needless to say, it was a really special day three years ago, and on this day as well. We celebrated by re-visiting the Eiffel Tower together and by eating at the same bistro nearby. This was a really wonderful night for all four of us!




Can't get enough of this tower and its sparkles!
Cell phone pic that is now my phone background

FInally, we HAVE to talk about Speculoos. Being a huge Nutella fan, I was skeptical when Stacy made me try a spoonful of this peanut butter-like sweet treat. Surely nothing could top my beloved Nutella? Ladies and gents, I was wrong. Speculoos (known as Biscoff in the US) is made of Speculoos/Biscoff cookies. Crushed into a spread. Seriously amazing. AND THEN... I had it on a crepe. HOLY CREPE.

The shawarma stand (where we ate earlier) also makes crepes.

Both of these are awesome.

Spreading the Speculoos

Look at that happiness right there. Seriously the best one food I ate on this trip!

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