Paris

We had a delightful day in Paris, taking the TGV high-speed train from Lille (1 hour 2 minutes, nonstop). The first thing we did was a boat tour on the Seine. We cruised completely around Notre Dame on the Île de la Cité:

And we cruised near the Eiffel Tower:

After the boat tour we walked up Avenue George V and Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe:

We were in Paris on Armistice Day, and we think we saw President Nicolas Sarkozy's motorcade leaving as we walked up. We know that he placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe not long before we got there, and that he left directly for the G-20 summit in South Korea (where he would become chair of the G-20 for the next year).

After lunch at an Italian restaurant, we walked all the way down Avenue des Champs-Élysées and eventually out to Notre Dame. There was some sort of special service going on there for a British military unit, but tourists were still allowed inside. Below is the south rose window. At the lower right is a statue of Joan of Arc:

From Notre Dame we traveled by foot and subway to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur:

The Basilique du Sacré-Cœur is on Montmartre, the highest point in Paris. The views from there are impressive and one begins to appreciate how big Paris is.

Not far away is the nightclub district, and we found Moulin Rouge:

Six movies have been made about Moulin Rouge, the most recent in 2001 starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.

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