Sacré-Coeur, Moulin Rouge...

My second day in Paris

On my second night in Paris I slept so that much that I woke before my alarm (an achievement for me). I was alone in the house, Ana and Sebas were on a short trip away. I had breakfast, a shower and I set out to make the most of my second and last day in the City of Lights.

The day wasn't that bright and not like the day before which was a perfect temperature, it was raining and quite a bit colder. But I had an umbrella and a rain jacket so it was fine. The first thing I did was go and see the Château de Vincennes, which I have already told you is a city attached to Paris, but it is not a part of Paris itself. In fact, if I crossed the street from where I was staying, I would find myself in Parisian territory. I walked around the neighbourhood and I went back to the metro so I could get to the north of the city, Montmartre. The metro was full of people and I couldn't imagine another metro in the world where there was so much ethnic and cultural diversity. I got off the line 1 at Nation station and then caught the line 6 to Pigalle, which was where I could find the 'Bohemian' neighbourhood.

Montmartre, the Bohemian quarter of Paris

The first thing you see in Montmartre is a hill mounted by the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur. I got to the quarter and I climbed the stairs which went on forever until I finally arrived half-way up the hill. From this height, I could almost see every part of Paris, you can see the Eiffel Tower looming between buildings and you can point out other famous monuments. From the top of the steps, I could see most of the places that I had visited the day before and that was on a cloudy day when it wasn't so clear.

Beware of the 'magic tricks'

Before I got to the top of the hill, I had a little problem. Around the entrance of the Sacré-Coeur and always at the bottom of the stairs, there are loads of men, who approach everyone that looks like a tourist, like me. They want you to take part in their little 'magic trick' involving a bracelet and someone's hand. What happens is that if they show you the trick, that is of course worthy of a great circus, they expect you to pay them. They are like the men in Seville that give you an olive branch and expect you to pay them five euros. Well it seemed that they liked me because three guys rushed up to me at the same time all wanting to do the same trick. I replied no about 200 times until they really pissed me off and I was scared that they had long arms and were going to try and get something out of my backpack. Because they were really bothering me, I told them to leave me alone in perfect Spanish and it seemed as if I wasn't the first one to turn them down because they understood me perfectly and started to insult me in every different language of the world. Now in a bad mood, I continued up the stairs soaking wet and threw the umbrella on the ground because it was just so heavy. The worst thing is that I wasn't the only one that they were harassing, because when I got to the top I saw that they were doing the same thing to at least 2 more people. So if you are ever approached by them, keep walking and don't even bother to stop and say 'no'.

At the top of the hill, there was a long queue to go inside of the Basilica, and after quite a wait, I managed to get inside. When I entered, I realised that I hadn't contacted my friend Romain who I met during my summer in Brighton and made good friends with. I told him that I would be in Paris that afternoon in case he wanted to meet for a drink or something. He told me that he was going to a street parade that afternoon with some friends in Montmartre and that I could join them if I wanted to. But I hadn't seen him by the afternoon and I was enjoying myself discovering things on my own.

Sacré-Coeur and Moulin Rouge

The entrance to the Basilica if I remember rightly was free I think, but I would also pay if I had to because it was worth it, it isn't Notre Dame but it was very pretty. I spent some time inside, and then I left to explore the neighbourhood a bit more. I then went to see some more or Paris' famous monuments, the Moulin Rouge. It was located on a street full of sex shops, strip clubs, cabarets... and there was the famous Moulin Rouge that was known all over the world. It was silly of me to think that were could visit the inside, but the only way to do that was to buy a ticket to the evening show there.

Museum of Eroticism (adults only)

Because it was close by I decided to go to the Museum of Eroticism, which sounds like it is just full of pictures of naked men and women... which is pretty much the case! It cost 5 euros, but it was a little bit cheaper for me because I was a student (very important to always carry your student card with you). The museum isn't that special and it is very small. It is simply a collection of statues, pictures, posters, sculptures... of all ages and cultures. The museum is not anything special and is very small. It is simply a collection of figures, pictures, posters, sculptures... of all ages and cultures several man. There are all sorts of works, erotic videos (not porn) and vintage images. Everything is erotic that's for sure.

The neighbourhood of Amelie

I walked around a few of the streets in the neighbourhood because I wanted to find the bar, "Café de deux moulins", where the French film "Amelie" was filmed. I went to see it and it was quite funny that all the surrounding streets were so quiet, much more than downtown. When I was looking on the internet I read that the Moulin Rouge was not just a multicoloured house or cabaret, but because it is in Montmartre, being on a high hill, there were different mills were used to grind wheat, painted in different colours.

It was soon lunchtime so I went to another fast-food restaurant and sat on a bench in the middle of the neighbourhood and quietly ate my lunch, accompanied by a few French pigeons.

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