We woke up a bit earlier and had breakfast in the hotel since Anna wanted to have a regular breakfast. They had a buffet with a lot of good choices, both European and American. They still didn’t have pancakes for Anna, but did have crepes and bacon which she enjoyed.
After breakfast, we got ready and headed to the Sacré Cœur monument. We had tickets to the Louvre but after the previous day being so crowded and busy, we decided to take it easy and have no true agenda. We took the train again as it is right near our hotel and very easy.
When we arrived at the station near the monument, it was raining a bit and the street heading to the monument was quite busy and loaded with tourist shops. We made our way up, but the rain picked up so we stopped into Le Studio Cafe right on the corner at the base of the monument. Despite it being right on the main drag, it was a nice cozy spot and the food looked pretty good although we only had a coffee and hot chocolate for Anna at a nice cafe on the corner. The forecast was for in and out showers, so I knew it would be short lived and it was.
After the rain let up, we headed to the top up the stairs. The wind was ripping, but it remained dry. There was a great overlook view of the city and the church itself was quite dramatic with fountains at the base and elaborate architecture. It was free to enter and not too busy (by major tourist destination standards), so we walked around inside. It was another beautiful domed church with elaborate stain glassed, tiled and sculpted tributes. I have really been in awe of the construction of these structures with curved arches and hundred foot high plus ceilings. I also have been contemplating the massive amount of time they have stood and how long ago they were built. When I visited Europe as a teenager, we visited several landmarks and churches and I didn’t really appreciate it in the same way I do now.
After touring the monument, we wandered around a backstreet which had several cafes but they all looked a bit too touristy for me. We were presented with the option to get a picture drawn by one of the street artists, but declined as there would be no way to get it back among other things. I had seen on the map that there was a Salvador Dali gallery and museum right nearby, so we headed there for a visit.
The gallery was a few rooms with various sculptures, small paintings, drawings and exhibits about the unusual artist. There were some very interesting pieces and it was an interesting and worthwhile stop.
After the Dali gallery, we were getting hungry and tried to find a spot that would have something for Anna, the never ending dilemma of the trip. We settled on an Italian and pizza place called Marcello which was among several other cafes on another side street. We shared Neapolitan style pizza and an antipasti platter, both of which were delicious. The antipasti had a wide variety of meat, some pickled vegetables and some buffalo mozzarella. It was a little meat heavy but quite good.
Once we finished lunch, Tammy and Anna did some shopping as the area had a variety of small boutiques. The streets were very narrow and steep and it was interesting wandering around. There were many appealing restaurants to relax with a cup of coffee or a beer. I had seen a place called the Paris Duck Store on Google maps, and Anna wanted to go there which was on one of these side streets. It is located here, and has a website here.
Tammy had bought tickets to visit the Palais Garnier, located here, the opera house where phantom of the opera was based so we headed there on the train. The front of the building was covered in scaffold, so we couldn’t see that but we were able to tour the inside which was incredibly ornate and spectacular. There was a library with historical books that I would have liked to spend time reviewing, but it was getting late and Anna was getting tired legs. We looked around the ornate halls which were incredibly decorated with gold leafed paint, intricate carvings and massive chandeliers. It was a very opulent place and again you could feel the history. Like most of the places we visited on the trip, I would have liked to spend a lot more time there but Anna is too young to really understand it so we just enjoyed a brief visit wandering through the halls and the perched view of the auditorium.
After the opera house, we jumped back on a train heading to the hotel. We took a short walk for dinner and had a nice meal at La Promenade which was a spot I found with a menu that would have a burger for Anna and a variety of other eclectic dishes. It had kind of a cross section menu with a bit of curry, a bit of mediterranean, a bit of italian and a bit of french. I had French onion soup which I had wanted to have the whole trip and it was quite good. I had a mediterranean platter with it which was good, but too dominated by roasted potatoes. Tammy had lasagna which she said was very good, while the little one had a burger which she devoured. It was in the middle of happy hour and half of the crowd was younger locals having drinks. It was a good last meal in Paris. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel watched some cat videos while cuddled up on the bed with Anna and packed up. We had to leave the hotel the next morning around 6:30 to get to the airport to fly home.