Graowl

Eeek!

My feet were still so tired today when I woke up, but I pushed through and forced them on to see more of Paris. My plan this morning was to visit the catacombs while Erica did a few bits and pieces she needed to do (postcards, call family, that kind of thing) then we'd meet up for lunch at a particular place. That all went to pieces when it was (a) raining and (b) a public holiday when we woke up. We first realised something was up when we went out for croissants for breakfast (our hosts gave us the address of the best local patisserie, they were delicious) and saw our street cordoned off and police at each end. We'd seen the flag hanging from the Arc de Triomphe and some grandstands set up around it, but hadn't realised that today was a public holiday for VE Day. It all clicked and we thought 'oh.' My out-of-the-rain destinations were closed, so I had a bit of a crisis before deciding to just get out and find another walking tour. Then the nearest Metro station was closed, so I thought I'd just walk somewhere. By the time I hit Champs Élysées there was a crowd gathering, and I can't resist a crowd waiting for something to happen (completely different from a crowd pushing through a site). After strolling back and forth a few times something finally happened - a procession of dressed up people on horses came through playing trumpets and things (I would say the royal guard, but I don't know what a republic has...) I have to say, some of the horses weren't very well behaved - while they were standing in lines while stuff happened up the front there was a lot of mini-rearing, shifting, backing out of spots and general fidgety behaviour. I couldn't see anything else, so they were quite interesting to watch.

Once all that excitement was over I set off down the street, not entirely sure where I was heading, but figuring I'd find the Louvre or something architecturally interesting. After wandering around, getting a photo up a completely deserted Champs Élysées, and bemoaning my arching feet I walked towards Invalides, where I'd been told to look at Napoleon's Tomb. By the time I found it, however, it was almost time to meet Erica so I poked around the free bits for a quick squizz then set off to meet her. Although it wasn't entirely successful, it wasn't an entirely wasted morning - wandering aimlessly through an unfamiliar city is never pointless.

We went up to Montmartre for the afternoon, the rain having mostly stopped. We'd planned to look after our aching feet by catching the funicular up to the top, but when we got there we scoffed at the size of this hill and realised it really wouldn't be too hard to walk up at all. So we went up, stopping to take photos and avoid the hawkers every now and then, admiring the ever improving view. After going around Sacre Coeur we realised we hadn't had lunch, decided it was just easier to be slightly ripped off by buying from the nearby shop, and sat on the steps eating rolls while working out what we could see from the vantage point.

Once that was done we thought we'd punish our legs just a little more, and went up the dome of the basilica. The view was spectacular, especially with the clouds putting on a good show, and we slowly made our way around the entire tower. I especially enjoyed the path up to the top (I'm sure that sounds a little strange), because it was obviously completely built in to the design, had little paths leading off to blocked tunnels and towers, and took a route over the crest of one roof and down the other side. I felt somewhat like Quasimodo bustling around secret rooftop paths. Here's one of his odd little friends, watching out over the city.

We descended, looked around the crypt, then headed on back down to the Metro and to the apartment for a quiet evening in sorting out photos and things. I hate wasting any time when I'm in a different city, but this has been a good night in - I'm not sure what my legs would have thought if I'd tried to keep going any longer. Tomorrow we're heading up the Eiffel Tower and then... Well, we'll have to see. It will be our last day in Paris, we head off to Amsterdam on Friday, but I will have to come back at some point.