Today we headed north to visit Sacre Coeur - Church of the Sacred Heart. The church is the second highest point in the city behind the Eiffel tower, but because of where you are situated it looks as though you are looking down at the Eiffel Tower from it. There were tons of people out enjoying the day and the nice sun. 
Addison looks as though she has embraced the Paris spirit. She looks like she's ready to take the town.
What a beautiful building and a pretty nice looking crew in front of it.
To get cooled down we loaded up on Italian ice cream. Addison and Kevin shared a strawberry cone while Emily and I endulged with a lemon ice drink...yummy!
We got a little shopping done. We could have bought a few more Eiffel Towers, but decided just to take a picture. We bought a few prints from one shop and actually had to go next door to buy a tube to store them in while we carried them around....how silly. Emily and I were pretty keen on trying to find an "I Love Paris" t-shirts. She found a few, I later decided against because I just felt too old. Isn't that pathetic?
The Montmartre area has been associated with artists for 200+ years. We walked around the artists square and were amazed. They were actually painting on the go and stapling their finished work onto boards as they finish.
The really cool thing was looking at all the portraits that were being drawn. We had seen on a television program before we went on our trip that a couple spent 80 Euro to get their portrait drawn and it was really good. To see it in real life was amazing and some of these people were doing a great job. The biggest thing that we noticed was that not many of the people were smiling in their portrait, one boy was actually hunched over and deliberately frowning. If I was his mother I would be so mad that I was spending all that money for a pouty looking kid.
Since Addison was such a good girl she got to ride on the carousel. "Lellie" rode along with her.
These are the stand alone public pay toilets. I never tried one, but Emily dared to do so. She came out with the most horrified look on her face. You deposit coins on the side and after a certain amount of time the door will automatically open up so you better get your business done quick. All the public toilets have a fee to pay for them. I used ones in the parks and they a bit nicer but it cost 40 cents each time to use, so my best advice would be to have lots of change on you when you are roaming around Paris in case you have the urge to go.
The Metro has lots of really neat signs and this is one of the most famous arched signs in the picturesque square of Place des Abbesses. We actually have a print of this picture hanging above our bed at home and I really wanted to see where it was in person. We were on a bit of wild goose chase to find it but I'm glad we did.
It was a very hot day so we had to load up on lots of water. Behind me are two very interesting things though...as we headed down to Moulin Rouge we walked through the Red Light District. There is a pedestrian area that runs in the middle of the road so you can walk around without getting up close and personal with the adult entertainment shops. But also the other cool thing are the rental bikes behind me. If you have a metro pass you can use it to rent these bikes to get to your destination. You just have to return them to another bike station and you get charged for the time or miles you put on it.
Emily and I in front of Moulin Rouge and the famous red windmill.
Just outside of Moulin Rouge was this huge fan raised about 2 feet up. It must have been some kind of ventilation, maybe for the metro, but it was a nice way to cool off a bit.
We really dug the Pizza Hut delivery scooters.
We attempted to eat at a French restaurant recommended to us by our hotel but after we sat down they told us that they had no high chairs and then Addison banged to wine glasses together and broke them, so we decided that it wasn't a good idea to eat there. We walked down a ways and found an outdoor cafe where we all ordered the duck entree and it was amazing.
Addison was so excited to get hotdogs and real French fries. I think she got a bit more than what she bargained for.
That evening Kevin and I ventured out again in the opposite direction of the Eiffel Tower towards the French Open which was going on the same week we were in town. We walked quite a ways but couldn't find the courts and got on the edge of the park that we were warned not to go into at night. So we stopped at a little bistro for a glass of wine and some dessert. I had this super rich chocolate mousse. If I liked milk, it would have been good to have a big glass of it, but I don't like milk so I had to make due with my French wine.
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