We awoke, packed, checked out and took the slow train to Paris. When we arrived, we wasted some time trying to figure out the public transport, as usual, and then made our way to our hotel. The metro stop itself was a bit off putting as it was dirty and crowded with people who didn’t seem to be doing much other than hanging out. We took what turned out to be the long way around to our hotel, but otherwise found it with no trouble. The hotel itself was decent enough, if not really nice, and was at least located in a nice area in Montmartre. Our room had a bathroom in the room, so we decided to pay a bit extra to keep that room.

After dropping off our stuff, we walked up the hill a couple of blocks to Sacre Cour. It began to drizzle on us as we walked, but not too hard. The view over Paris was nice but a bit hazy from the rain. We toured the cathedral, which is done inside in a sort of eastern Byzantine style. I risked a picture at the end but was caught and yelled at by a guard.

Outside, we regrouped and then walked down the hill to some shops selling  cloth where we browsed for a bit. We then took the Metro to the Isle de la Cite.  I had intended to take us straight to Notre Dame but went the wrong way and so we walked along the Seine instead. The sights were beautiful but the traffic was quite loud. At one point Amber and I got separated from the others when we went down a ramp to the level of the river while they stayed above at street level. We were able to regroup though with the help of text messaging.

After some further walking, we caught our firt sight of the Eifel Tower ahead. The girls recognized it and it was a nice moment. We walked in that direction, but it was farther than it looked and we did not make it all the way there before we ran out of energy for the day. We got as far as the Louvre and the Tuileries garden, where a fair had been set up, complete with ferris wheel.  We stopped there for dinner at a sort of a sandwich and crepe place near some souvineer stands.  I had a crepe with egg and cheese, which was not bad. Back at the room, Phyllis discovered that she had lost her money belt, including her passport. We rushed back to the place where we had dinner, hoping that she had left it there.  We arrived just as they were closing and, sure enough, they had the belt. Crisis averted.

Afterwards, Phyllis and I found an internet cafe where we were able to print out passes for Paris Disney.  We then returned to our room and slept.