A week behind!

Okay.  I've been slacking.  It's been over a week since I last posted.  Shame on me.  How about 2 posts back-to-back?

Last Monday, March 21 was Sandy's brother's last day in Paris.  I took the day off and we decided to go see Sacre Coeur and take a boat cruise up one of the canals.  What a fun day!

We took the metro and got off at the metro stop.  As we were looking around to find Sacre Coeur, Sandy noticed this:

I think we found it.  Sacre Coeur is a stunning church "that looks like the Taj Mahal" according to Morgan.  It's a good thing because that's what it was modeled after.  It sits high on a hill on the north side of Paris and offers the best views of the city.  Here are the steps:

I have to admit it.  We lied to the kids.  "Are we going to have to walk up all of those steps?"  "Um... no.  Of course not."  Yet, we did.  Morgan counted 124 steps from the little balcony area to the main landing area in front of the church.  And we still had a few more sets of stairs to go.  Here are the kids most of the way up.

Unfortunately, you cannot take pictures in the church itself.  It is gorgeous, though.  Here are Jim and Jennifer resting at the top of the hill:

And here are Sandy and the kids at the top with the view of the city of Paris behind them.

Simply stunning view of the city.  Just behind Sacre Coeur is a shopping and artsy district.  There were a number of artists walking the streets hoping to draw people.  Farther on, there was a square of many artists drawing, painting, and selling their crafts.  We're going to go back another time to buy a few pieces of art.

We headed to the boat tour.  We needed to grab some food first.  We found a little corner market and got a panini sandwich and a crepe.  The guy made both fresh right in front of us.  Nick enjoyed watching.

The boat tour was different.  It wasn't on the Seine.  It was on one of the canals, a large portion of which had a tunnel built over it years ago.  Here is one of the portals to the top with greenery growing down:

The tour was very nice.  We went through 8 different locks, got to pass under pedestrian bridges, and watch swing bridges operate:

It was a great time.  We then headed back for some food and rest before Jim and Jennifer headed to the airport in the morning.

We had a wonderful visit with them.  Good sight seeing and even better company!

I'll get another update in tomorrow.  I promise!