Paris - Day 7

Feeding off of yesterday's successful subway ride from the airport, we decided to press our luck and take the metro up to Montmartre. Located north of the city, Montmartre is home to Sacre Coeur. From its hilltop location, we were able to a spectacular view of Paris. Unfortunatelyy, the morning haze had not yet lifted, so ourpicturess did not turn out so well.

After wondering around the Montmartre area looking for the Salvador Dalimuseumm to no avail, we decided to metro down to the Champs-Elysees. In an effort to save our tired feet we decided to take the subway down to the far end of the Champs' and walk back towards the Louvre. When we arrived at the Arch de Triomphe, the upper platform was closed to visitors but would be opening again in less than an hour. To kill some time we hit McDonalds.

Returning to the Arch, we were greeted with a good sized line of folks waiting to climb to the top.Safetyy note: there is no elevator to get to the top of the Arch, you must take the stairs. After a painful climb to the top, we were treated to a tremendous view of the city.

looking towards Montmartre

Walking along the Champs-Elysees we found the Renault F1 Experience -- A dealership/museum/restaurantt. Inside was the trophy for the 2005 F1 Constructor's Championship as well as Fernando's winning car from last year.

Our fearless tour guide treated us to another interesting dinner at a place called, "Pain Vin Fromages" which translates to "Bread, Wine, Cheeses." It turned out to be a cozy fondu place. We had quite a good time embarrassing ourselves while our dipping cheese turned into cement and the waiter laughed at us.

It was a big suprize when we ended the night again back at the Great Canadian. A big crowd of Julie's friends were there. I met a girl from Germany, who met her French boyfriend in California and they used to eat at the restaurant where my brother worked while he was living out there. Small world. Bidding our new friends a good night we started the walk home. We thanked Julie for allowing us to come and visit her and for being such a good tour guide for us. Back at the hotel, we began the packing process as tomorrow we were going to be in a bit of a rush to get to the airport for the flight home.