Paris Day Two

Petit Dejeuner

I want to start every day the way I started my days in France. A short walk to a local cafe, followed by a glass of fresh squeezed juice, a croissant, and the best espresso ever! This breakfast filled me up and left me satisfied until a late lunch every day no matter how much walking we did. Real ingredients in real food will do that for you. Sadly, none of that is a part of the typical American routine. I can't even find a croissant with less than 20 questionable ingredients. Sigh.

Montmartre

Because we had a full list of things to do, we saved time by taking a taxi to the gorgeous Sacré-Cœur cathedral. Mind you, they consider this building 'mediocre' by architectural standards, but the location on the highest hill in Paris adds to it's charm. We chose to climb the 255 steps to the top because we like torture. We took the tram back to the bottom as we had learned our lesson.

The details inside the cathedral were gorgeous and amazing. The tiniest of details were so precise. I couldn't help but see quilt patterns every where I looked. I just loved the mosaic and carvings. I'll spare you the 300 other photos I took.

Even the carvings on the exterior would make a great quilt border, don't you think? After taking in the view of the city and admiring all the details, we headed to the real quilter's paradise...

The Street of Fabric Shops

At the bottom corner of the Cathedral steps was a small side street filled with one fabric shop after another. I did a quick pass through the first four or five before making any purchases. I needed to my 'research' so to speak. I found fabrics made in France, some that were marked 'made in Europe' and then I found the jackpot...

Bolts and bolts and bolts of Liberty of London fabrics. I had never seen this much in one place or even dreamed this much existed! The tables were sorted by color, with entire tables devoted to just blue, or just pink. Imagine for a moment what this was like? I had to resist the urge to fling my body onto the fabrics and just bask in the glory. Parisians a very kind people, but I'm sure they would not have looked approvingly on such behavior. My heart starts racing just looking at the picture! LOL

I decided to limit myself to three fabrics, as the show would no doubt provide more temptation and my suitcase is only so big. I can tell you that those moments in that store were pure bliss. It's okay if you don't understand that kind of ecstasy, it's really hard to even put into words.

After a delicious lunch at a small cafe (yes this was the view from our table) we walked a bit more then took a taxi back to the hotel. Our next stop was the Louvre and our hotel was across the street, so we dropped off our purchases and bought our tickets.

The Louvre

The Louvre really could take days to explore. We had one afternoon. Actually, we had less, because after we saw the main things we came to see, we returned to the underground atrium to enter the opposite side of the museum. This requires you show your ticket again, and I had lost mine! Yep, somewhere in the shuffle to see the Mona Lisa or climbing the stairs in front of the Winged Victory I lost it. Smooth move.

Personally, I found the architecture and building itself as impressive as any of the paintings or sculptures. This is the ceiling in a section near the Mona Lisa. The detail and the sheer elaborate designs were breathtaking. Maybe I lost my ticket while photographing this ceiling?

For dinner I ordered a salad. Have you ever seen such a beautiful salad? It was just as delicious as it was pretty. Honey, brie, and roasted pine nuts over the artful arrangement of vegetables was just what I needed. Yum!

But jet lag was setting in and we returned to our beautiful little room. Good night Paris, thanks for an amazing visit!

Bonne nuit!
Diane