And we're off

So part 2 of the whirlwind tour of Paris. We definitely slept in until 11am, which wasn't exactly on purpose but apparently very needed. After our late start, we decided to save the museums for Saturday and Sunday (to make the most of our museum pass), and we headed for the Sacre Coeur. The Sacre Coeur is a Catholic basilica that's had someone praying at all times of the day for the past 125 years.

Steps leading up to the Sacre Coeur

It's on the highest point of Paris (landscape wise) which means you get a great view of the city. After seeing the area we walked yesterday, Mom and I both were slightly in awe and a little regretful of not making better use of our metro passes. Not so today! The metro and the bus were our best friends.

View out from the steps of the Sacre Coeur

More views

Yet another self photo...the preferred photos of these travellers

After here we got our first stand and go cafe sandwiches on baguettes. Yum!!! We also staked out the Gare de Lyon which is where we'll board the train for Geneva tomorrow. It looks like a train station with large glass windows and ceilings and pigeons flying freely inside. There's also people everywhere, but that's slowly becoming part of my expectation in Paris. Sadly no photos; I'll try to get some on the way back. After our orientation tour, we took the Metro back to the Eiffel Tower to pick up the bus for Rick Steve's bus 69 tour bus route. Basically you take the bus from the Eiffel Tower to Pere Lachaise cemetery, and you get a great view of the main attractions of Paris-the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, etc. along the way After we took the Metro to the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. The Champs-Elysees is a large street on the west side of Paris. It's lined with designer shops and bright lights and rather reminds me of Times Square in New York City. 

Arc de Triomphe. You can't see (or hear them), but the French Military was across the street under the Arc and playing La Marseillaise (the French national anthem)

View from the middle of the Champs-Elysees

Another great, but long, day. We finished it out with a disastrous trip to the Carrefour (like a Wal-Mart store) for some bread and yogurt, which resulted in us getting booted from the self-serve line because American credit cards don't work like European credit cards. I ended up causing a huge backup and had all my french vocabulary fall out of my head, and in general caused mass chaos. Point 1 for the Americans. Oh well. The bread was fantastic.