Sacre Coeur and Palais Garnier

Karyn picked us up this morning with real croissants.  Jan bought one from a stand on the way to the Louvre a couple of days ago.  She said it tasted like it was made at Sam's club.  Not today.  It was delicious. 

Then we watched her maneuver through the narrow streets that surround Montematre.  Sometimes delivery trucks block streets, on a hill, that are one lane.  That meant backing down.  It all happened safely and cheerfully and we got to see the church and brilliant views of the city. 

For some reason the church does not want anyone to take pictures inside.  Not sure why unless there are services going on, but it probably has to do with the fact that most people do not know how to turn off their flash.  That's disruptive to people who may be praying.  It is a church first and a tourist attraction second.  The indoor image is from a site that provides downloads.

 

 

Sacre Coeur as seen from the Eiffel Tower earlier this week.

The Eiffel Tower as seen from Sacre Coeur.

We did some shopping.  Jan bought a small oil painting.  The artist was a character and posed for a picture with Jan.  His name was Thomas.  Below his picture is Karyn who is seated on chairs decorated in the colors of the French flag. 

Once the shopping completed we headed down to the Opera House or the Palais Garnier.  The exterior was featured earlier this week from our night tour.  Today we wandered around inside.  It's no wonder France suffered through a revolution.  The kings and emperors spent all of their subjects's money paying for these grand edifices.  I am glad they are preserved for everyone to see, but can you imagine the frustration of the citizenry, starving for food and watching their rulers not only want for nothing but to engage in gluttony?  The kings reportedly kept hundreds of mistresses in addition to a wife.  The anger of those women alone would be enough to launch a thousand ships, except that Helen of Troy had that covered already.

The blog is picture heavy this week thanks to the land based free internet in the apartment.  Starting next week I will be at the mercy of maritime bandwidth and there will be fewer pictures.  I'll try to be more witty.