Day 180: The City of Lights

Walking through Paris was like returning home. Every winding street, every tower, building, and monument felt familiar, even with never-seen-before eyes. Each movie I'd seen set in Paris came rushing back, the skyline of the city settling comfortably in my mind. I loved our first stop of the day, strolling through Montmartre passing cafés filled with couples sharing jugs of red wine. People queued up outside boulangeries and fromageries.






We ate lunch at squished wooden tables listening to a pianist dapple in tunes reminiscent of my childhood. In the square, we admired the diversity of paintings on display. The harpist outside of Sacre-Coeur plucked away, setting the mood more sombre and reverent. I found that I couldn't stop smiling as it all felt just right.

Entering Notre Dame, our instincts took over, and we turned left instead of right, getting a view up the entire church and its grand archways and stained glass windows. It wasn't until halfway up the building that we realized we were going against the flow. After two months admiring Hindu and Buddhist sites of worship, we were accustomed to touring around counter-clockwise.

The locks on the Love Bridge

We rested our tired feet at a cafe and timed our walk along the Seine perfectly so we could see the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour. We strolled underneath it for a picture 'up her skirts' as Craig called it, then crossed the large roundabout for a view looking back from Trocedero. Our magical evening was made complete by heading back to a home instead of a hotel, to cook dinner and enjoy cheese, olives, and cured meats alongside a bottle of French wine with our gracious host.