Paris, the Second Half!

The second half of the Paris trip was even better than the first! On Friday most of the group went to Disneyland, but I was not very interested, so me and another girl in the group went to Montmartre, which is a city set on a hill in northern Paris. The city was spectacular!

The most "touristy" sight in Montmartre is Sacre Coeur, a Romanesque-style cathedral on the highest point of the town. I really liked the cathedral, but the hill leading up to it was so crowded, and parts of the accent smelled really bad. Also, I have never seen so many aggressive street vendors in my life! I literally had to rush past them because some of them would try to grab your arm, tie a bracelet on, and make you pay for it. They weren't threatening beyond that, but they were very intimidating!

After the cathedral, we went to the Salvador Dali Museum. It was a very small permanent collection with mostly sculpture and very few paintings. The exhibit was especially fun because the walls that did not have art on them had pictures of Dali in the process of making his art. There was a lot of information about how and where he got inspiration. He is a really funny guy, and a very talented artist!
In case you can't tell, the lips are a couch. I love it!

We spent a lot of time just walking through the town. A lot of it is a residential area with a lot of families, so there were little French children running up and down the streets and through parks. I loved walking around town! There were so many beautiful sights. I thought this staircase was especially enamoring.


The last stop in Montmartre was the cemetery. This was probably my favorite part of Paris! Every grave was a monument, and there were some so old they had no writing left, and some so new that they still had fresh flowers from the original burial. It was very touching.

While we were exploring the massive cemetery, we cam across this grave. If it had been Halloween, or a full moon, I might have felt very superstitious!

Alexander Dumas, who wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo is probably the most famous person buried in the cemetery. We had to see his grave, since we were in the area.
Now, Mom, you will be especially excited about the next day's adventure! I went to the Paris Opera House, which inspired the story of The Phantom of the Opera! The opera house was absolutely stunning!

The ceiling in the entrance hall was especially drawing. It was covered in mirrors, and it felt simply enchanted!
And, of course, the staircase. I can almost see phantom descending them!

The Opera House was covered with ballrooms, galleries, chandeliers, statues, paintings, staircases, fireplaces, and the list goes on and on! When we come to Paris as a family, I think this would be a great stop!




We spent the rest of the afternoon in the Louvre gardens again, then caught our train and went home. Overall, I would say it was a simply magical weekend!