The flights were booked, the apartment paid for and our transportation to the airport arranged. All that was needed before hand was a leisurely lunch with the wonderful Nikki Tams, including a couple of celebratory pints to mark such an exciting occasion (plus a glass of prosecco at the airport), and Josh and I were off to the romantic capital of the world. The flight, taking approx. an hour, was made all the more enjoyable by a surprise viewing of the Eiffel Tower from the plane's window. The symbol of Paris, and arguably France, rose from the chalk white city and stood proud dominating the city scape below.
Once alighted from the plane, we were on our own with only the trusted guidebook and our wits to find the way to our apartment in Montmartre. Thankfully, my navigational skills were sharpened and with little hesitation we competently traveled on the RER B and 2 metro lines to find our destination.
The only point where my navigational skills deserted me was during our time on line 4 when our metro not only failed to stop at our desired station, it never passed through it. Concerned something was horribly wrong, I insisted we exit at the next station and travel back the way we came to find Marcedet Poissonniers. No sooner has we surfaced on the streets of Paris did we find the entrance to the Metro, descended the steps underground and found the correct platform showing Marcedet Poissonniers as the next stop. But it was the exact same platform we had left. It was only then that I realised I had read the metro map on the carriage in the wrong direction and Marcedet Poissonniers would have been the next stop anyway. Disaster averted, we arrived at our new home for the next few days and what a slice of Paris it was:
The evening was still young by the time we had explored the apartment so Josh and I decided to venture out in the local area to find food and refreshment, as well as getting the feel for Parisian life. Our first stop was the infamous Moulin Rouge, founded in 1889 by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, the spiritual birthplace of the can-can dance and the inspiration for post-impressionist artist Toulouse-Lautrec.
The area was peppered with lap dancing clubs, sex shops and other erotic venues. As interesting as this was, we elected to wonder through the side streets back to the apartment. Along the way, we discovered many picture-postcard sights of Paris: these were to be the first of many.
Near the top of our street, the illuminated domes of the Scare-Coeur could be seen above the roof tops. Though we were tired and in need of rest, we couldn't resist the opportunity and headed towards the church. As we ascended further up the hill, the size of the Scare-Coeur began to impress upon us and the beauty of the French and Byzantine architecture was formidable. However, just as impressive as the building itself was the clear panoramic view of Paris from the steps of the church.
After taking in the night skyline of Paris, it was a 10 minute walk back to the apartment for a good night's sleep.
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