Hostessing is Tiring

I had forgotten how tiring sight-seeing can be. Yesterday, we did it all. And we walked A LOT.

First up was a swing through the Tuleries when we had to transfer buses on our way up to Montmartre.

The day was already well on it's way to heating up. As far as I can recall, this was the first time the temperature broke 70 since my arrival in Paris, and it soared up to 75, which is a lot warmer than I recall! Maybe I'm just not acclimated anymore. 

We backtracked along the Tuileries to find our bus that took us up, up, up to Montmartre.

First, we swung by the Moulin Rouge! Be still my little heart =)

The awesome wind grate thing that everyone was shamelessly using for their Marilyn Monroe moments

Then we walked back through the Red Light district (I have never seen so many sex shops in my life!), and up, up, up some more to get to Sacre Coeur!

The endless staircase

The Sacre Couer Basilica itself- I should actually go up and look at it one of these days, especially now that I know how easy it is to bus there

The view of the city

The first of many picnic hotspots we came across that day

The girls had briefly hit the Louvre and Notre Dame the day before (the same day that they went to Versailles), so we didn't need to work those into our whirlwind day. Instead, we bused back down to the Louvre and from there walked to the Musee d'Orsay. We spent about two hours there, but unlike the Louvre, they don't allow pictures, so that's all you get! Saw some Van Gogh and Monet, and realized why I like Renoir so much- all of his subjects look happy! Often, they are dancing jubilantly or flat out grinning.

The girls really wanted to have a picnic under the Eiffel Tower, and I had it scheduled for this day because I knew the weather would be fabulous. We were all thoroughly tuckered out at this point, but we gamely picked our way from the Musee d'Orsday to the Champs de Mars, picking up bread, fruit, and cheese along the way.

I didn't get a picture, but lots of people were sitting along the edges of the pedestrian bridges over the Seine, having their picnics there rather than on various grassy areas

We passed by Invalides, which seems to be the place to party while you picnic

Jenny at our picnic

Me at our picnic

The Katie and Diany

The picnic was excellent. We had some of the best brie and goat cheese any of us have ever had, I had an ice-cold Limonata, the Eiffel Tower was right there, the grass wasn't too wet, and we were there until dusk was well upon us.

Finally, we ended the night with a boat cruise on the Seine! I took them on the same one I went on, except this time, there was narration! It was quite interesting. 

I didn't take too many pictures this time, but here are a few I took from the same trip in January:

That last picture would have been very different last night. In January, it was freezing. Last night, it was lovely out, and the banks of the Seine were crowded with young people, many of whom had clearly had picnics. I don't think I have ever seen so many people having picnics on one day. Every place we went, there were picnickers. And we picnicked as well! Great fun.

The girls left early this morning to catch the Metro to their bus to their airport, so now the room is quiet. It's a pretty small room, and I actually had all three of them somehow squished onto my floor last night (hostels always get more expensive on Saturday nights). It was interesting going, but it seemed to work, and they got out fine. Probably won't see The Katie again until she visits home in July, but it was great seeing her this weekend.

Just under two weeks until Spring Break! Scotland and Greece- I am so psyched!!