Day #40: Even More Paris!

Monmarte was originally named after the Mount of Mars (as in the Roman god, not the candy bar). Now, it is referred to as the Mount of Martyrs. As legend has it, the bishop of Paris, St. Dennis, was beheaded by locals who weren't going along with the whole Christianity thing. Not one to let his enemies have the last word, St. Dennis grabbed his head and hiked up the hill outside of Paris before dying. Locals were amazed and Christianity was in.

Today, the high hill overlooking Paris is home to the Sacre Coeur basilica . . . and about 10,000 panhandlers/schiesters/janksters, each of whom hit me up for money. One guy even grabbed my hand in an attempt to put a freindship bracelet on it. I had to pry his fingers off of me. Needless to say, I was not in a friendly mood. Here's a picture of the basilica.



After touring through the basilica, I headed off to the heart of Paris's shopping district. (Fun trivia fact, the department store was invented in France.) I went to one that was jam packed with eight floors of merchandise. Well, I say eight floors. The top floor was the sixth floor, but it also featured a 0 floor and a -1 floor, so I'm sticking with eight.

I actually ended up buying something on my shopping trip. I was strolling along the Rue de Lafeyette when I saw a small games shop. I fell in love with a chess set, so I bought it! Now, the tricky part is getting it back home.

Unwilling to cart it around for the rest of the day, I returned to my hostel to drop it off. Walking on the way back, I passed a lady handing out free razors. How could I refuse such a sign? I took my free razor, spent one euro on some cheap shaving cream, and shaved for the first time in six weeks. I felt much better afterward (and strangely colder). Here's a before picture:

After dropping off the chess set, I continued on to the Orangerie Museum. The Orangerie houses some guy's private collection that he donated when he kicked the can (as best as I could tell) and housed works by such artists as Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse, and Picasso. But the museum's main attraction by far is its collection of eight large canvasses of Monet's water lillies. Housed in two, egg-shaped white rooms, the paintings are hung (four to a room) for an almost 360 degree water lilly view. A piped in selection of light classical music completed the mood. I probably could have remained their enraptured by the oversized canvasses for hours. As it was, I stayed an hour before the museum closed and security kicked me out.

My last stop of the day (after stopping for a nice croque monsieur at a local brasserie) was the Eiffel Tower. As impressive as it is by day, it is even moreso at night. Paris is the so-called City of Night. Well, if a view of the city at night from the top of the Eiffel Tower is any indication, the name is well-dserved. Even the Eiffel Tower itself gets into the action. At the top of every hour it is dark, thousands of light bulbs flash on and off and the Tower puts on a spectacular light show. This is one tourist attraction that did not disappoint!