One of my non negotiables was to see Montmartre and the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.
HOLY CROWDS. The moment you get out of the metro station Anvers, you are bombarded with souvenirs, and shops, and performers, and…. Hooo boy. Eiffel Tower crowds is nothing compared to Sacre Coeur crowds. As an introvert, that is my least favorite thing.
We get out of the metro and make our way, strategically, to the funicular. Except the funicular has a line that is a mile long. So we take the stairs. The kids just run up the stairs, no problem, while me, is huffing and puffing behind.
So we climb the stairs and push our way closer to the Basilica, and holy hell, people, people everywhere, and we sit on the stairs in front of the basilica and have a quick yoghurt that I thankfully packed. We then get up and circle the basilica, with one goal in mind- to just get away from the crowd. Go into a side street, and it clears. We even find a playground!
After the playground, it starts to sprinkle. We find a restaurant that has a menu in French and is further away from the “hub”. We find Rita. And they have French fries. Finally, R is in heaven. I don’t know how he survived four days without French fries.
After a long lunch, we pack up and start back up the stairs toward some streets with “vibe” – and again, we have to push through the crowd. We find a bust of Dalida, a French singer and actress, and keep walking through the streets, chasing pigeons, and taking random pictures. Around 2pm, I’m done with the crowds. We board the metro back to Le Marais. The weather was a bit crazy- all these pictures are taken within an hour from each other. Cold, sunny, very warm, sprinkles, shower, cold, sunny, repeat.
I liked Montmartre but not the crowds. It looked like a family neighborhood, either tons of kids of various ages. We were home at 3, napped, and went to the store to get some dinner.
Mom of Children 