Our body clocks were still adjusting to French time so we woke early – 5am and it was a good three and a half hours until sunrise. We ate our leftover cheese and bread from the day before’s lunch before getting up to walk to Place du Trocadéro for a sunrise photo shoot of the Eiffel Tower. We have seen many photos from this spot and Jane wanted to do a fashion shoot from there.

We were in luck, the sunrise was stunning.

We caught an Uber to the Moulin Rouge, We weren’t yet savvy with the metro so we thought we’d better take the safe option because we had a 10.30 deadline for our Walking tour on Montmartre. Turns out we got there early. As we’d eaten breakfast early and it was a little chilly we had a ham, cheese and egg crepe from a street side stall. Another Paris “must do”. It was delicious and really hit the spot.

Montmartre is an old village style part of Paris best know for the birth place of Bohemia and artists challenging the old rules of art, Artists such as Picasso, Toulouse Lautrec and Van Gogh lived there. It was also the seedy part of town where both the rich and poor came to have fun. The Moulin Rouge and its famous Can Can dance also grew out of this area,

Personally, I loved the narrow cobbled streets, the little shops and cafes and the quaint buildings. Parisennes love the area and work hard to retain its charm.

We made out way through the winding streets, forever climbing the hill to Sacre Coeur. Our guide had many stories about the artists and establishments of the time. I’m glad we did to walking tour to really get a feel for the area, Later we caught the hop on hop off bus and drove through the area. It didn’t have the same impact as actually walking through the streets yourself. I thoroughly recommend the walking tour.

The tour concluded at the magnificent Sacre Coeur Basilica. As its an active church, it has free entry, After we sat on the steps with some mulled wine and gazed over the commanding views over the city.  A man was playing harp. It seemed too magical to be true.

We then made our way via the Metro to the famous Notre-Dame in the Île de la Cité.

Notre-Dame is a stunning cathedral, although viewing directly after Sacre Coeur, it seemed a little less magnificent. I would suggest seeing them on different days,

We crossed the Seine and had a late lunch a Cafe Panis I ordered a chicken club sandwich which of course I couldn’t finish. Jane had a baguette with jam. Jane raved about her hot chocolate.

Home for a short nap then back around the Eiffel Tower for some night shots. We stopped for dinner at a nearby cafe and ordered (too much again) four cheese spaghetti before hitting the sack exhausted.