Marieke and Anthony's Travels: May 2006

For "Anthony's Birthday," we headed to Paris for the weekend. We found a nice little hotel:

In the 'bohemian' neighbourhood of Montmartre.

On our first day, we visited St. Sulpice - most recently made famous in the Da Vinci Code.

A nearby park was full of weird art:

Our walk continued to Notre Dame (somewhat less impressive than Katie's, we think).

Complete with stained glass windows,

And gargoyles,

Lots of gargoyles...

We then met with some of Anthony's family friends for lunch. It gave us a great chance to practice our French (for a few hours).

After lunch, we continued our random stroll, passing the Eglise du Dome,

And the Statue of Liberty (or at least a replica).

The next morning, bright and early, we headed for the Basilique du Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart Basilica).

Located on a hill top with a beautiful view of Paris.

Unfortunately, this romantic spot is also a popular hangout for drunks (for whom the 'early morning' is more of a 'late night').

After watching the cleaners for a while, security finally opened up the park in front of the church.

We found a secluded spot and...

The spot was chosen for nostalgic reasons, as it is a central location in Amélie - the movie we saw on our first date (50 months earlier).

We continued our 'Amélie tour' by visiting la Rue Saint Vincent, mentioned briefly at the beginning of the film.

We then visited la Maison Colligon, Amélie's local grocer.

The store has left up several props from the movie, and the owner has even released a CD with his musical thoughts about Amélie, Montmartre and 'life and legumes.'

Next was a visit to the Abesses metro stop.

This is where Amélie first meets Nino.

On our way to our next stop on the 'Amélie' tour, we passed the Moulin Rouge.

Across the street, we spotted Palace Video, where Nino works. As we took this picture, some passing locals exclaimed, "Welcome to Paris."

By now it was time for breakfast, so we headed to Amélie's cafe.

We continued to Gare de l'Est to see the photobooth.

And our final stop was the Canal St. Martin, where Amélie likes to skip stones.

We couldn't visit Paris without going up the Eiffel Tower.

And, being cheap students, we decided to walk up (it saves a couple euros over the elevator).

Nearby, there is an interesting Peace Memorial - with messages of peace written in hundreds of languages.

That day, there was also a police fundraiser for orphans. This included attack dog demonstrations,

And motorcycle stunts.

Of course, no romantic visit to Paris is complete without a trip to see the sewers.

This is one of the oldest attractions in Paris. When it first opened, they used to provide boat tours through the sewer network. Now, it is just a series of exhibits in a section of storm sewer.

This giant steel ball is used to clear out the build-up of "silt" in the sewers.

After a very tiring day, it was time for dinner. We found a great little restaurant called 'La Refuge des Fondues.'

There were just two long tables, along the walls. A (large French) waiter helped girls to climb over the table to their seats.

The only choice was 'meat or cheese.' We chose a cheese fondue, which came with a huge basket of bread for dipping.

No French meal is complete without wine. At this restaurant, it is served in 'biberons' (baby bottles). Presumably, this is to prevent wine loss if the table gets knocked as someone clambers over.