Ladee + Basilica + teeny prayer = chaotic blizzard (oops)

The day started off innocent enough. We decided that we were going to Sacre Coeur as neither of us had seen it. We strategized our Metro route, enjoyed breakfast and coffee at the apartment, bundled up and off we went.  The weather was a light freezing rain, so up went the umbrellas to keep us somewhat dry.

The Metro ride went off without a hitch, changing staions, hiking up and down steps (oops, wrong side of the tracks) but we arrived in Montmartre in good spirits.  We walked up the little hill to the bottom of Sacre Coeur steps and looked up.  Nope, not going to "Rocky" tackle these steps today, so we decided to ride the Funicular (Pittsburgh folks, think incline).  We had bought a bundle of ten Metro tickets earlier so we skipped the purchase line and queued for the ride. Only one was running, because they were blowing the leaves off of the other track.  Sun City must have brought a multi-lingual bus tour because all of the little old ladies were pushing and shoving to get to the best view (windows were steamy, so I have no idea what they think they were going to see). 


The Funicular (instead of steps!!)

 The grounds were lightly dusted with snow and it was very pretty.  This photo is me looking composed before I realized that I had to climb all of these stairs.  Many thanks to Kalen for my Rome jogging workout. My legs did just fine on the climb.


In front of Sacre Coeur...notice the tiny dusting of snow

We entered the Basilica. No photos allowed. We slid in to one of the pews because the Nuns were up front reading and singing. It was really beautiful.  I looked around and did not see a sign that said "No tape recording of the Nuns reading and singing" so I turned on my iPhone recorder and got the last several minutes.  I can't post it here for you to hear but if you are interested, send me an email and I'll share it with you. 

We listened for a while and then joined the line to walk around the interior of the the church.  I stopped by to light a candle and made a tiny, little request.  Call it a prayer, call it a request to the universe.  I said/thought that it would really be cool if we got a lot of fluffy snow so that I could photograph the Basilica in winter dress.  I put 2 Euro in the money box (suggested amount for a wish/request/blessing) and picked up a tiny candle.  I tilted it over another candle to light it and PLOP, it fell out of the holder and on to the other candle.  And put it out.  I'm sure that this is not a good thing as candle lighting goes, and I'm really sorry to the other person and will eternally hope that their wish comes true.  I lit my candle on another candle, tried to light the doused one, failed, and quickly moved on. 

We looked at the statues and paintings, the stained glass was awesome with light coming through.  Then we came to Saint Anthony.  He is the finder of lost things, as my Catholic friends have taught me, and I call on him a lot to help me find where I put things.  I put some coins in his tip box and thanked him for the great job that he has done in the past...and that I was hoping that our relationship would continue in the future.  I had to antagonize Karl to tip also, because we, and heaven knows, that he uses this saint a lot also.  Threatening to tell his daughter that he was neglectful, he bent to my wishes and put money in the tip box.  (By the way, he did try to explain that it wasn't a tip box, but gave up quickly.)  We finished our tour. 

Then we stepped outside.

To a winter wonderland with the most beautiful fluffy snow flakes that I have seen. 

I was thrilled with the snow!  It was a little treacherous walking, but hey, it was all good.  We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe (inside!) Cafe Chappe, 8 Rue Tardieu, Paris 18, while we watched the snowflakes fall and accummulate outside.  I had Croque Madame 9€ and Karl had Plat de Jour Beef meal with french fries 11.5€.  Karl added a glass of wine Vin du Mois 4.50€ and we finished with Cafe Creme at 3.60€ each.  Good stuff.

Croque Madam (Ham and Cheese sandwich, with egg on top)

Steak with a blue cheese sauce, french fries, and salad.

Click the link below to see what CNN had to say about the "Winter weather disrupts travel in Paris region". I need to be a little more careful with my request/prayers. I've always been zealous about asking. Somehow I will figure out how to blame by sister...or son...or mother...

http://bit.ly/fMeZBL

 

We made our way back in the Metro, then over to Metro: Hotel de Ville.  This brought us into the hardware store basement of Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville (BHV - http://www.bhv.fr/).  We shopped around a little for French gloves and a roller suitcase bag for Karl.  No luck on the shopping so we began our walk/slush through the Marais district and in to Mariage Freres for tea and desserts. After dessert, we shopped a little (I can't reveal the list of purchases until after the first of the year.  Secret Santa shopping going on.)

"Time for Tea" mini desserts with tasty tea (Happy Birthday and Marco Polo)

Trudged through the slippery sidewalks, puddles of icy water, and all of that fun stuff to get back to the apartment.  It was very exhausting because we decided to take the city streets and avoid the Metro.  I had had enough stairs for the day.  Who knew that walking on slushy ice would be so challenging.  We consulted our iPhone "CityMaps2Go" Paris map to determine the quickest street route to get back to our neighborhood.  We walked past Hotel de Ville so that I could see the winter scene with the Christmas tree and ice rink in the front. It was in the beginning stages so nothing was lit. 

We then cut through on rue Saint-Martin.  We hadn't been on this street and this took us through a little shopping/cafe district, pedestrian only.  Noted this as a place to return.  We walked past the Centre George Pompidou (art museum) and I noticed the restaurant where Kalen and I had sat in 2007 and watched artists.  Turned left on rue Rambateau and we were soon in our familiar neighborhood.  Loved it all!

Mariage Freres - Le Marais
30, Rue Bourg-Tibourg, Paris 4e
(Metro: Saint Paul or Hôtel de Ville)
http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/UK/welcome.html