A trip to Paris, even if you've been several times before, is incomplete without a trip to Montmartre and Sacré Coeur, so of course they were on the list for our first full day. Montmartre is a hill 130m high, located in the north of Paris, with the top sites being The Moulin Rouge, crazy Parisian nightclubs and of course the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur.
Taking the Metro to Abbesses, you have three options; 1. Take the Funicular. 2. Take the stairs or 3. Walk in a loop, around the dinky cobbled streets, to Sacré Cœur.
The stairs and the Funicular are situated in the same place, but beware of the con-artists at the very bottom, trying to sell you something - these guys can be found near the Eiffel Tower as well, and get preeeeeeeeeetty pissed off when you rightfully snap at them to leave you the hell alone lol. Although, they can provide you with excellent entertainment when they attempt to swear at you but get it all wrong; "Yous a assholes!" Eat the pie! LOLZ! But enough about them.
Bjorn and I went up to Montmartre on the pretense of a) taking photos and b) finding Jim. The first we were successful with, the second, not so much. For some reason, everybody we had spoken to was of the belief that Jim was buried in one of the cemeteries in Montmartre, after all, it's Jim Morrison, right? I mean shouldn't he be buried in some arty-farty bohemian arrondissement of Paris?Err, no. Jim Morrison is actually buried in the famous Père Lachaise cemetery, located in the 20th arrondissement in Paris. This particular cemetery is also home to Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, Eugène Delacroix and Frédéric Chopin, among many other celebrities.
And although we were disappointed not to have found Jim, we weren't completely bored looking at all the old gravestones in the Montmartre cemeteries..The cemeteries in Paris are amazing. To me, being in a cemetery is like being a part of the history of all the occupants, from their time to mine, from their life to this. What mattered to them, some how matters to me, making me feel like a greater part of something, and with Paris, you're bound to feel it with all the history lying beneath your feet.
But on the lighter side of things, and something I think G will appreciate, we found this gravestone, and Bjorn had to have some fun with it..
On our second day, we decided to take the scenic route, and walk to the Louvre. After all, we were only in the 7th arrondissement and could pretty much walk to anywhere from our hotel. It did end up taking a while, but only because we were stupid enough to trust the maps - they make no sense! Seriously! but the walk itself was pretty nice, and we did manage to get in a few nice photos along the way.
We had past the Rodin Museum in hope of having a look, but to our dismay it wasn't open due to a public holiday (Labour Day). We had seen the shops - all closed. We had seen the public, walking around with their yellow flowers. We had been curious, and now our curiosity had been confirmed. Would the Louvre be open..
Arriving at the Louvre it became evidently clear that no, the Louvre wasn't open. Tourists milling around the entrance, looking dismayed at the fact they couldn't spend the next several hours of their ever-so-valuable time bunched in a room with thousands of other ignorant yet self-important travelers looking at that piece of art they just "had to see". When in, after all.So the Louvre was off the cards (but as you should have been able to tell by my snide and bitter comments, was not completely off the cards) for our second day in Paris, so instead we went wandering, in search of food and entertainment.
After walking for a bit, and being paranoid by the police presence and all the crazy French people walking around with giant flags, not to mention the large presidential speech going on ("I likes the crusty bread and cheeses!"), we decided that a movie was in order. Bjorn and I love movies, and it's always fun going to the cinema in a foreign country, even if it's just for a break from all the culture and history that just seems to be absorbed from every place you visit (this sort of sponging technique leaves me tired). I would have rather went shopping, but of course it being a public holiday, the shops weren't open either - poo! It was nice to get out of the sun, drink a humongous coke and just relax, even if the screen was tiny and the movie was crap (Hilary Swank, you dumb bitch).
After the movie we headed back to our hotel for eats, sleeps and a clothes-change before our ever-so-exciting night bike tour of Paris, which turned out to be pretty damn cool. Our bike tour began at the south leg of the Eiffel Tower, and was with Fat Tire Bike Tours - they have those nifty retro bikes with the really comfy seats.
Our first stop on the bike tour was the Notre Dame, an amazing sight at any part of the day, but at sunset, it's gorgeous. Most think it's a must to go inside Notre Dame (for the photos and view, mainly), but I've been to Paris twice and haven't stepped a foot inside the doors. I don't think it's necessary to stand in line for 2 hours just to get inside and be shunted around by the hordes of tourists all coming to see something a book has told them to see. That's not appreciation to me. 
I think true appreciation can be found just standing on the outside, looking at the amazing Gothic architecture. The gargoyles, the flying buttresses (that word amuses me muchly lol), the decay of a building that has withstood disaster and maltreatment. I think that's pretty amazing.We stopped on a bridge, to admire the sunset. In the shot you can see a shadowy Pont Neuf - ironically the name means "new bridge", yet it is the oldest standing bridge in Paris.
The next stop was the Louvre, which would be our second time there that day. The glass pyramids never really impressed me until I saw them at sunset, with the light gleaming off them. It really was fantastic and something I couldn't fully capture on film (which just means you have to go see for yourself!).
After touring around the small back streets of Paris, and dodging the crazy traffic, we found ourselves by the Seine, loading onto a boat, for our little trip along the Seine. The fantastic thing about this bike tour, was it included a boat trip, with a never-ending supply of really bad French red wine that was consumed on said boat trip. 
The only bad thing I can really say about this tour was the lack of historical or even just plain interesting facts. It was really just a guided bike ride around Paris, with a neat boat ride along the Seine at the end. It would've been nice to have some background, but as Bjorn pointed out, it probably depends on the tour guide you have. At least we got some truly disgusting wine and TBH, the tour wasn't that expensive :)
After the bike tour, Bjorn and I headed back to the Eiffel Tower, to ooh & aah over the pretty flashing lights. You see, I didn't realise that the Eiffel Tower flashed everynight. I thought it just did it on special occasions, so I was much pleased when I overheard someone say that it started at 10pm. I hadn't gone to the Eiffel Tower on my last trip, thinking that blah, how could it be that exciting..
I don't think I've ever been so wrong, and if I have, I've never admitted it! It was amazing. I would go back to Paris for the Eiffel Tower alone. Even when it's not sparkling, it's an awe inspiring sight. 
The next day we headed back to Montmartre, in search of souvenirs. This is where we met the crazy con-artists and Bjorn set his gypsy curses down on them (they must eat the pie). Bjorn also decided to imitate either the agile rabbit or Keanu Reeves from Bill & Ted - I'm yet to decide which he more resembles..After that little jaunt, we finally managed to make it to the Louvre, where we dined on fish burgers, and I went all crazy-psycho about how amazing it was they had an actual Sephora store downstairs. I was quite pleased. As a consumer, I was pretty disappointed in their gift shop. The V&A in London has a bigger and better gift shop than the Louvre. I suppose that's a good thing though, as I might have spent money there that I shouldn't have been spending (e.g. Bjorn's money lol).
There were no queues, so we headed straight up to the 2nd floor of the Sully wing, which house's the paintings. This is where we met the rocket monk. His legs were burnt off in a freak accident, and God, feeling generous, granted him with a rocket pack in place of his legs. The people are running because the monk has a faulty sphincter. The man coming out of the hole has yet to see the monk and is shortly in for a very nasty surprise.This is what long entries do to me.
Later that night, after visiting the Venus de Milo - the room she's in is crowded, stinky and hot. She's not even all that interesting - and the Mona Lisa - whom I have always been fond of, and were surprised at her size (where others think she's bigger, I thought she was smaller!), we dined out at a very nice French restaurant, where I attempted to speak the minimal amount of French I had learnt before our trip. I'm fine at saying a sentence, it's just when they answer me, I always accidentally revert back to English ("Yes, damnit! Oui!") then later that night, we found ourselves a little patch of grass, with the Eiffel Tower in sight for one last look at the sparkly goodness.The next day it was back to London, but you'll be happy to hear that's a whole different entry ;)