(Finally completing the blogs for my EU work visit that included some sights on the side! …. only 6 months+ late)

Montmarte – Day 2! We had an early start to avoid the big crowds at MontMarte. Got there just after 8:30 , place was very empty and it felt so different to yesterday when it was packed.

Good opportunity to take some great pics without any crowds !!

The entry to the upper levels was not going to be open for another hour and a half, good time to get some coffee and light brekky – yes always the french croissants !

Found a nice cafe directly opp the markets with art stalls – was nice seeing artists setup their stalls in the morning…. Pooja would have loved the art works here.

The weather was nice and cool, perfect for the nice warm coffee and croissants – this was a good relaxing break.

That done we headed back to Sacré-Cœur basilica to go up to the top. No queue as we were still early and glad there was no queue .
Got our tickets and we were up the stairs.
Now for the people like me who would not have thought about it, this was a very old building with super narrow stair ways . The way up was a very very narrow spiral stair case made of stone. There were no open windows and room only for a single person to climb at a time and no chance to turn around – it was a ONE-WAY stairs. For people who are claustrophobic – I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS VISIT. I am one of these guys and literally after about 60 seconds of climbing, the walls seemed like closing on me. Unfortunately these stairs go up a single way, there is absolutely no way to turn back with people behind you all trying to climb and as there is no space, there is only ONE WAY – UP :(. Luckily up a few more flights there was a small nook where I had some space to take off my jacket and get more breathing space and calmed my nerves. As it was not crowded the people behind me were more than willing to wait and not pressure me, plus the high stairs was making everyone super tired so a break was well warranted for all.

Slowly made the way up and finally out in the open 🙂 felt so good to feel the fresh cold air on the face. The view from the top was great but the experience getting up there was not the best for me.
If you have a heart problem or are claustrophobic , please do not climb to the top!

The view from the top was great, a very nice outlook of Paris.
As always what goes up must come down…. it was time to go back down. Time for the stairs again, but coming down this time it was not too bad.
We were soon back on ground level and it felt good to be out of there into open areas.

By this time the crowds had definitely built up and queues were getting long. We were lucky to have gone early in the morning.

Walked down the hill to grab an UBER. MontMarte was done and we had covered it very well. We headed back to the OPERA area – to Galleries Lafayette – this was turning to be Nita’s fav spot.

Had a late lunch around 2pm at the Panasia restaurant on the upper level of that place – amazing food!

Around 4pm we made our way to the highly rated Angelina Chocolateria – famous for pastries and amazing hot chocolates.

Queue was about 15 minutes wait which soon cleared up and we were seated.

Could not rate this place high enough !!! LOVE LOVE LOVE…. you have to try the hot chocolate and amazing pastries. This was an amazing finish to the afternoon.

Dinner was booked at Le Train Bleu. This is an amazing french restaurant that is in a train station. Now I say amazing for the decor inside not so for the food ! :(. Whilst the ambience and decor was out of this world the food was not at the level – I would not recommend this place.