We are up bright and early in the morning and head off to the Montmarte district to see the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

Montmarte is a hill in north of Paris which is not only known for the white dome of Sacre Coeur but also it’s nightclubs, primarily Moulin Rouge.

The name Montmarte means ‘mountain of the martyr after  St Denis,  the Bishop of Paris and the patron saint of France, was decapitated on the hill in approx 250 AD.

Montmarte has always been  known for its artists community and Dali, Monet and Picasso were some of the artists who had studios in the area.

The place actually looks quite dreary and dingy in the daylight and the Moulin Rouge obviously comes into it’s own at night because it looks very run down and seedy in the light of day.

After getting off the bus, we trudged up the narrow streets past all the tacky souvenir shops up to the base of the basilica. It pays to be fit as it is a steep climb up the hill, and there are a lot of steps up just to get up to the entrance of the basilica.

A quick look around inside and it is time to wend our way up the myriad of stairs that lead to the top of  the basilica. Believe me when I say that the stairs go on and on, round and round and we think we are never going to reach the top but once we do get there and stop to catch our breath, we are so glad that we made the trek up all the many stairs to the top. The view over Paris is absolutely spectacular.  And even though the weather is overcast and there is a bit of a drizzle, the sight back over the city to the Eiffel Tower is awesome.

This is one of the sights that you don’t want to miss.

The internal staircase winds around and around and you begin to wonder if you are ever going to reach the top. I remember making a a rather irreligious comment about fat friars chasing alter boys up these winding stairs believe me the boys would have been safe.

It was just such a lovely evening and the buildings that presented to us were so architectually interesting that I couldn’t stop taking photos of them.

All the old songs about Paris came to mind “Under the Bridges of Paris”, etc. Here we were cruising down the Seine in Summer at dusk. How fantastic this is.

It started to cloud over as dusk fell and it looked like it might rain, but fortunately the rain held off. Not that it would have mattered, nothing could dispel the amazing feeling of actually being in Paris traveling down the Seine river.

The trip ended back at the pier just down from the Eiffel Tower, which was all lit up and was a fantastic sight on which to finish the cruise.

From here Paula and I returned to our hotel while the rest of the group went on to see the show at the Moulin Rouge.

Our day had been hectic and so we were quite happy to give the show a miss. After all there is always next time.

We have managed to fit so much into our time here and that night was no exception. Off we went on a trip to visit the Eiffel Tower followed by a trip on the Seine.

We were going to go to the Moulin Rouge, but as my husband hadn’t come on this journey, there were some things I wanted to leave until I returned with him.

Here we are having dinner up the Eiffel Tower with 3  very friendly American women and a Croatian gentleman from New Zealand.

After dinner we all set off an a cruise down the Seine. We have to keep pinching ourselves as we can’t believe we are here in Paris.

The trip was leisurely and the look of the city changed as the day turned to dusk and then to night.  What fantastic photo opportunities  presented themselves as we passed by buildings of antiquity and under ornately decorated bridges.

I have always admired the works of Rodin since I first read a biography about him when I was a teenager.

My favorite works are ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Thinker’. So I was really excited to be visiting the Rodin Museum in Paris.

Originally the embracing couple appeared as part of a group of reliefs decorating Rodin’s “The Gates of Hell”. Rodin replaced the couple with another pair of lovers.

The Kiss was originally titled Francesca da Rimin, because it depicts the Italian noblewoman immortalized in Dante’s Inferno who falls for the younger brother of her husband.

The couple fell in love while reading about Lancelot and Guinevere, Francesca’s husband, Giovanni discovers the pair and kills them. The book is seen in Paolo’s hand. Their lips do not touch in the sculpture, suggesting they were interrupted and dispatched without the lovers having kissed

A stroll through the gardens is fascinating with a larger than life

sculpture of ‘The Thinker’ and ‘The Gates of Hell’.

We spent quite some time taking in the sights and exploring Rodin’s house.

The statue of ‘The Thinker’ was originally named ‘The Poet’. This heroic figure was meant to depict Dante Alighieri sitting in from of the The Gates of Hell, contemplating his epic poem ‘Divine Comedy’, which is considered to be on of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages.

The Thinker is instantly recognised as an icon of intellectual activiity.