Roadtrip Monte-Carlo/Paris (part 2)

First day in Paris

After a 12 hours drive from Monte-Carlo (with a 2 hours stop in Cap d'Antibes, amazing!) we finally arrived in Paris!! When we passed near the Tour Eiffel, I barely believed we had made it! 
We looked like zombies when we entered the hotel, we were so tired...We checked in as fast as possible, got in our room and we almost felt asleep with still our clothes on! As soon as we got in our pajamas, we literally passed out in our bed as we touched the pillows!

Cap d'Antibes

Cap d'Antibes 2

on the highway to Paris!!!
Day 1 in Paris, May, 2nd : our hotel's name was ibis Paris Montmartre 18ème (5 Rue Caulaincourt) and as we woke up in the morning we realized that our room had a view on...the Montmartre cemetery! It could seems a bit creepy, but actually all those graves and tombstones were pretty suggestive.
We woke up at 10 a.m, went straight to Starbuks in Place de  Clihy, had a quick breakfast and then start our day 1!! First of all, we were near the basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre (Basilica of the Sacred Heart)
It's a enormous basilica, located on the highest point in the city, always filled of tourists and people comining to pray from all over the world. As a matter of fact, it is possible to stay in a shelter named Ephrem managed by the benedectine nuns. You can sleep there and, in change, you need to pray for an hour with the nuns. Inside, the basilica is spectacular and breathtaking. There's a impressive skylight and the light that comes in seems the proof of God's existence.
It's possible to make donations to a few different statues inside the basilica. Silvia and I decided to make a donation to the statue that rappresented Holy Mary, mother of God; we thought she (above all the saints) was the most trustworthy!





The next step was visiting Cimetière du Père-Lachais (Père Lachaise Cemetery), the largest of all Paris' cemeteries. It's a monumental cemetery, in all thay ways! It's famous because here lies the body of Jim Morrison, front man of the Doors, who died in Paris by an overdose at the age of 27. We stayed there almost 2 hours because of al the graves we wanted to visit but mostly because we couldn't find them at the first try! The map they gave you at the entrance is not so easy to interpret, but I guess that's the fun...
Anyway, we visited a few graves, here's the most important :
- Frederic Chopin (Polish composer and pianist, one of my favourite)
- Edith Piaf (French singer, famous for the songs "La vie en rose" and "Rien de rien")
- Ettore Bugatti (Italian automobile designer and manufacturer)
- Gertrude Stein (anyones who has seen "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen knows who she is)
- Oscar Wilde
- Amedeo Modigliani (Italian painter and sculptor)
Funny fact: we asked the gardener if he could help us find Bugatti grave and after he heped us, he asked if we were relatives...we laughed and replied that we would have wished so, but sadly no. I never thought I could have liked visiting a cemetery, but Père-Lachais deserves a look!

























I wrote to a parisian friend of mine and we had appointment at 6 p.m in Place du Châtelet. As we were waiting for time to pass, we took a walk by the Siene' side and took a look (a CLOSER look) at the shops. As Pierre arrived, he took us to a bar he described as "a bit geeky" named "Le dernier bar avant la fin du monde" (the last bar before the end of the world). Very original and extravagant, le dernier is a themed bar inspired by fantasy and science fiction comics and movie's fictional characters . All the drinks they serve have curios names. I'm a huge fan of the "Star Wars" saga so I couldn't not order anything but a drink called "Skywalker", and it was good! 



Bathroom signs

Pierre and I didn't see each other for years and he proposed us to have dinner together in  the Quartier Latin, where we had dinner in a cute bistrò. It was almost midnight when we said goodbye to each other and almost 1 a.m when me and Silvia stepped into our hotel room. We organized our tour for the next day, then went straight to bed!


Song of the Day : When I'm  Gone (Cups) by Anna Kendrick


Link to ibis Paris Montmartre 18ème hotel : http://www.ibis.com/fr/hotel-0697-ibis-paris-montmartre-18eme/index.shtml

Link to "le dernier bar avant la fin du monde" : http://www.dernierbar.com/

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