Paris III

After a bloody cold night in the hostel, we got our free breakfast with bagettes and coffee and then climbed up to the 130m tall Montmartre Hill, that overlooks Paris.
Sadly it was pretty foggy and we couldn't see that far. We went into the well-known Basilica of the Sacré Cœur that was built from 1876 to 1912. Its white dome is a highly visible landmark in the city, where just below it artists still set up their easels each day amidst the tables and colorful umbrellas of Place du Tertre.
We walked around the narrow streets and found many galleries, artists and cafés. Famous artists, such as Dali, Monet, and Picasso had studios or worked around Montmartre.
Then we looked for the Café "Deux Moulins" on Rue Lepic 15, where the movie "Amélie" was set. It was so crowded with folks, we had to wait 40 minutes until we finally got our Café crème and Crême brûlé.
From the café it's just a short walk to the famous cabaret Moulin Rouge in the district of Pigalle. Then we took the metro to Place de la Concorde and walked to the Champs-Elysées and on the way we took some photos of L'église de la Madeleine, a huge church, of the Palais Royal and the major tourist attraction Notre Dame. It's widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.


Finally we went to the Centre Pompidou, where the French national modern art museum is located. The building structure is very distinctive: The coloured external piping is the special feature of the building. Air conditioning ducts are blue; water pipes are green; and electricity lines are yellow. Escalators and elevators are red. White ducts are ventilation shafts for the underground areas. Even the steel beams that make up the Pompidou Centre's framework are on the outside.
Besides there are some very nice paintings shown: All in blue. You need much time to see every detail... :-) But it's not my duty to judge modern art...

As we were getting very tired we found a Starbucks right around the corner and had a coffee.