Traveling with Laura

Today was rather gloomy, which meant I wasn’t all that excited to be out and about. I didn’t leave my hotel until almost 9AM, so it was a bit of a late start for me. My plan for the day was to wander around and explore Montmartre. It turns out everybody else in Paris had the same idea. It was CROWDED. 

I took the metro to Abbesses station, at the base of Montmartre hill. Abbesses is the deepest station in the Paris metro system, and includes 176 steps up a spiral staircase to exit the station. There is an elevator, but I climbed the stairs in preparation for tomorrow’s big climb (stay tuned for that!). Nearby is the “I Love You” wall – a wall of blue tiles featuring the phrase “I love you” in 250 different languages. 

I walked around looking for a place to get breakfast and settled on Le Vrai Paris. To be honest, it was the cute decorations and outdoor patio that pulled me in. The food was disappointing, though it’s hard to go wrong with a baguette, croissant, OJ, and hot chocolate.

After breakfast, I semi-followed a walking tour map I had taken a picture of from my Frommer’s guide as I made my way up to Sacre Coeur at the top of Montmartre hill. There were several tour groups around and it was overcast, but I managed to get a few decent pictures while I walked.

I was far from alone as I neared the top of the hill, with hordes of tourists crowding the streets and alleys around Place du Tertre and Sacre Coeur. The line to get into the cathedral wrapped around multiple times. No pictures were allowed inside (that didn’t seem to be stopping many people), so I did a quick lap around and then headed back outside.

I already had my lunch spot picked out at Fric-Frac, close to the Abbesses metro station. Fric-Frac prides itself on its menu of croque monsieur sandwiches so I was excited to try it. It was cute and cozy inside with just a handful of tables. I ordered a regular ham and cheese croque monsieur, fries, Coke Zero, and pain perdu for dessert. The bechamel sauce is actually inside the sandwich, instead of on top, which I didn’t mind. What I did mind was the Dijon mustard, which I can’t stand the taste of. I kind of picked at the sandwich and managed to eat some of the ham and cheese without Dijon. The dessert was fine, at least the parts that weren’t burnt. This is not shaping up to be a great day, food-wise.

I thought about visiting the Musee L’Orangerie this afternoon but the line to get in was very long. Instead, I wandered through the Jardin du Tuileries and then back to my hotel.

I found a bistro online that had good reviews and made my way to dinner at Bistro des Augustins. I had a table by the window with a view of Notre Dame. Since gratin is their specialty, I tried a gratin with chicken, potatoes, cream, mixed vegetables, and emmental cheese. Given that I’m a pretty picky eater, it was just okay for me. I ate about half of it. I did get to enjoy it with a French cider, so that was a plus.

I then needed to make my way over to Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre for my evening entertainment in the form of a concert by the Royal Ensemble of Paris. I hadn’t bought a ticket ahead of time, so I arrived early to buy one and then stopped back at Odette for not one, but two choux pastries (one chocolate, one vanilla) and a hot chocolate.

The concert and dessert made up for the rest of my ho-hum day. The string quintet was excellent and they played several well-known pieces by Mozart, Handel, and Bach, among others, accompanied on some pieces by a solo violin and vocalist. By the time the concert was over, it was past my bedtime and I was ready to call it a day.