Paris: Montmartre, Sacre-Coeur, Cute Pregnant Ladies & Invaders!

Today we decided head over to Montmartre to see the Sacre-Coeur and surrounding interesting spots. I decided to give the “City Walks” iPhone app another try and use it for our excursion because I received a nice email from the developers about the issues I was having:

Hi Tara,

The map problem is caused by the recent OS4.0 release. We have fixed
the problem and are in the process of updating all our walking tours
apps. Please download the newer version when it is available. We are sorry
for the inconvenience it may have caused you.

Best Regards,
Jim Zhu
GPSmyCity.com, Inc.

Mom and I wrestled with whether or not to bring the stroller. I had been to Montmartre twice before and thought not, but unfortunately the sun decided to come out in full force and the idea of carrying Ripley around in the Ergo Carrier all day made me sweat. We decided to bring it. It wasn’t too too bad, but I definitely recommend against it if you can manage hauling your kid around without it.

We took the Metro from Vincennes to Nation to Pigalle. We got Ripley all setup in the stroller and headed towards our first stop Le Bateau Lavoir. Along the way we stopped in at Eglise Saint-jean de Montmartre and checked out some of the steep steps that locals have to traverse, marveling at how fit they must be.

Famous artists have lived at Le Bateau Lavoir: Rousseau, van Dongen, and Picasso. Picasso painted portraits of Gertrude Stein and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon here. It is regarded as the cradle of cubism.

From there we headed east along the cobblestone sidewalks to Place du Calvaire to see a nice panorama of Paris. Along the way I spotted an Invader at Rue D’Orchampt. Sean thinks it’s like a game finding them, so 100 points for me! Unfortunately once we got to Place du Calvaire there were a bunch of stairs in our way and so my Mom and I had to take turns getting to the top while the other stayed with Ripley in his stroller. At the top it kind of sucked because the view was obstructed by a bunch of damn trees.

By this time we were all getting hot and hungry and it was almost time to meetup with pregnant honeymooners Gen and Charlie, so we headed to the Sacre-Coeur. We had to hike up some stairs but once we got to the top we found a nice bench to sit on with views of Paris including the Eiffel Tower which made my Mom happy. I am pretty stoked that I have found some nice spots to picnic and feed Ripley. So far the park behind Notre Dame is my favorite, but overall thumbs up for what usually I find to be a somewhat stressful task. We met up with the happy couple and hung out for a couple of hours with them. They are so adorable and so in love and I felt all happy just being around them. As you can see, Gen looks AMAZING. I can’t wait for Audrey to get here as I know she is going to be a gorgeous little girlfriend for Ripley.

I spotted two more Invaders on this outting, so what is that, 300 points for me? What do I win?

Overall the day was great but the sun zapped the life out of me. There were more things I would have liked to see but we got sidetracked by trying to find a store with a jollyjumper for Ripley (still no success) and the life draining out of us.

Tomorrow evening we are going to the Louvre Museum. Apparently it’s open later on Wednesday and Friday, half price after 3pm, and smaller crowds after 5:00pm.