Viva Paris!

A month ago (because I am lazy about updating this blog) a group of women from the Helsinki office headed to Paris for the weekend and I joined. Why?



Because...well, it shouldn't take much of an excuse to head to Paris! Home of beautiful art...



...and truly extraordinary cookies!



I found these in Le Marais a short while before heading back to Helsinki, at a bakery called Pain de Sucre. They helped me to recover from a truly miserable flight experience. What kind of sadomasochistic airport shunts you into a gate area with neither food nor bathrooms? Charles De Gaulle, that's who. But back to the interesting stuff...

We found a fabulously affordable place to stay in the 5th arrondisement called the Hotel de L'Esperance -- only 71 euros per night with my own bathroom! And near a subway! The street was quiet --
but not too quiet to have that all-important French accessory -- the bakery! Unfortunately, that bakery wasn't quite as creative as this one...



I spent Saturday morning walking around with my "TimeOut Paris" guide and, of course, getting lost. For example, I don't think this church was exactly on my itinerary -- I was actually trying to find a recommended tea house -- but I was glad to come across it just the same.



I also stumbled (literally) across a set of bike racks for the much publicized public bike rental scheme. The Velib program has 750 locations across the city and lets you rent a bike for a euro per half hour and return the bike to any other location. Perfect as an alternative form of public transportation, or the only form when all the bus and train drivers go on strike as they did again two days after I left.



Despite the seemingly random meandering, my actual goal continued to elude me: the Sacre Coeur church in Montmartre. Then, a couple of hours (and one pot of tea and two scones) later I hiked up a few dozen stairs to the church itself.



Unfortunately pictures aren't allowed at all inside the cathedral - presumably that would impact the sales at the gift shop. They actively practice herding inside as well. Proctors of some kind quickly gather people as they enter, chastise them for being loud or camera-wielding or just tourists, then not-so-gently guide people to the left and tell everyone to follow the arrows as they encourage you to take a quick pass-through on your way back to the exit.

Despite the general air of disapproval I got from anyone associated with the church itself, the experience was...wonderful. Easily one of the most beautiful cathedrals (technically a basilica) I have ever been in, mostly because it was so accessible. Most cathedrals are long and narrow in an effort to inspire awe and knee-dropping in loyal church subjects. But the Sacre Coeur is just one large dome with another square area in the front, leading to an overall feeling of community and sharing rather than "bow before me, weaklings!" attitude.

This generally peaceful feeling I left with helped convince me that paying 5 euros to climb to the top of the Basilica was a good deal. Nearly 300 steps later I still thought it was a good deal but I would regret it the next day when my legs essentially stopped functioning. However, it was worth it for the incredible views...





...though the stairwell itself could use some loving care, or at least a paint job in a brighter and more church-like color.



Other notable sights that day included the River Seine (where we took a rather unspectacular tour boat cruise)...



...and a street sign that instantly helped convince me that Harry Potter is not fiction after all. Nicholas Flamel lives (or, lived)! He was a real person! With a real street named after him!



This blog entry is now becoming quite long, so rather than bore you with the rest of the details, I will finish with some unusual sights from the Botanical Gardens I accidentally happened across while lost on my way to yet another subway station:

Dinosaurs!


And even better...dragons! Oh, those kooky Parisians!