January 10, 2017 - Paris, France: Part 2

January 10, 2017 - Paris, France: Part 1

Bohemian Montmartre, former home to Edith Piaf, Salvador Dali, Toulouse-Letrec, Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh, now that's a loaded dance card, was the morning walkabout session. Starting with the Sacre-Coeur, this Basilica took 44 years to build (1875-1919) and perched a top this artist haven at Paris's highest natural point at 420 feet. A good magnetic spot to start the day. From here wandered around and found all the noted spots. The late 1800's moving into the next century would have been incredible time here in the Montmartre area. Budding artists still occupy the main square with the hopes to carry some of the late artists magic to hit their lives -btw, there is some really nice pieces by these artists on display as they work live on newer pieces. You just have to get beyond the tens of artists walking around with sketch pads trying to use any tourist as their next subject. A few pics from the stroll. What's with the windmills? Well, after the era when the monks stomped on grapes here in the 1200's (there happens to still be one winery here), in the 1600's farmers put in the windmills to help in grinding grain, there are only a few remaining.

After a quick stop at the hotel, the day continued over to the left bank and a first close look at the iconic Eiffel Tower. How things have changed since the last time we were here. You now cannot just walk up go underneath the tower, like every other site we visited you must go through a security check to access the ticket booths and a closer intimate view up the tower. No real big deal just an inconvenience. So another stroll through the wonderful little market street of Rue Cler was in order before taking in the both sides view of the tower, finishing the 28,000 step day at the roof of the Lafayette Galleries as night fell and this icon glowed in the evening night. A few more pics, hope you enjoy… 2 Parts today, this is Part 1

January 09, 2017 - Paris, France:

Had a bit of a lay in this morning after last nights oh, la la, at about 11 am we jumped on the Metro and did a little walking tour through the Marais area. Starting at the Bastille we visited the spot where Jim Morrison lost his life, #17 Rue de Birague and basically ended our tour at his grave site. The Marais quarter is one of Paris’s most characteristic areas, it is full of hip boutiques, busy cafes, trendy art galleries, narrow streets etc,. It is the perfect setting to appreciate the zest and flair of this great city. While it is also known as the Jewish quarter is has now evolved into an area where the Paris Gay population calls its home. Our  2 hour walking tour ended at the Hotel de Ville which since 1357 is the home to Mayor of Paris. From here we jumped onto Bus #69 and headed over the Perl Lachaise Cemetery. As this year marks the 50 anniversary of the Doors we wandered the gravesite and paid our respects to Mr. Morrison to commemorate this occasion. This is the end, my only friend the end... . Also residing in this gravesite are Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, Chopin, Rossini to name but a few. I thought it poignant watching a couple at the Morrison grave, which is behind a fence, they lite a joint each had a couple tokes then flipped the remaining half onto Jim's grave, still lit. She then sat down opened a diary and began writing. How fitting is that. A tip here is to get a good map of this graveyard, it is huge and a bit complicated. I had Rick Steeves book as well as downloaded map on my iPad and still had a heck of time finding some of these graves.

After a late lunch across from the gravesite we walked the hour back to the hotel as the day turned to night. Here are a few pics of our day, hope you enjoy...