I wanted to see the famous (or should that be infamous) Moulin Rouge, immortalised in Baz Luhrmann's musical of the same name, so headed to Montmartre by my favourite mode of transport, the Metro. There was also a beautiful church near Montmartre, called Sacre Coeur, that I was told was worth seeing. While waiting at Gare de l'Est where I changed trains, there was lots of whistle blowing (not the trains) and police running around the place, not sure what was happening but I was glad when my train arrived soon after.

Sacre Coeur is the highest point in Paris and is a popular spot for people to visit at night with a bottle of wine and a baguette to view the lights of Paris. (Speaking of baguettes, they really are the staple food of Paris...at the end of the work day, you see line-ups in the local boulangerie (bakery) as the Parisian workers drop in for their evening baguette, then off they head, baguette in brown paper bag.) The church itself was lovely inside, beautiful choral music, candles burning and nuns busily cleaning. It was disappointing that even though there were signs asking that no photos be taken, people blatantly ignored them and took photos. Didn't they realise this was a place of worship, not just a tourist attraction, and that they were being disrespectful to the people who use the church?

Down the stairs from the church were hawkers selling mini Eiffel Towers, the standard souvenir of Paris, and faux handbags, spread out on pieces of material to protect them from the ground. As I sat and ate my morning tea, admiring the beautiful view and all the chimney pots on the top of the buildings, I heard the clinking of metal on concrete. I turned around and saw the hawkers gathering up the four corners of the "protective" material and taking off, loosing a few Eiffel Towers on the way…the undercover police had arrived on the scene. They managed to collar a couple of hawkers but more than ten or twelve escaped, only to move on to another location I guess.

I set off down the stairs to Montmartre, dodging other hawkers trying to gain my interest in bits of coloured cotton??? A shake of my head and hand, and I hope a very French sounding "Non" told them to try someone else.

I wasn't really sure where the Moulin Rouge actually was as I hadn't bought a map, but I was confident the Paris Tourist Bureau/City Council wouldn't let me down. My confidence was rewarded, for there at the end of the street was a giant map, with "Vous etes ici" (you are here) marked on it, indicating that the Moulin Rouge was about five blocks to my right. I must commend the city's forefathers with the planning they put in to the Metro and information for tourists. You don't have to walk very far to find a set of stairs down to the Metro with a map at the top of the stairs to indicate which station you're at and where you can go.

At last I saw it, the Moulin Rouge, and as everyone had told me it wasn't that spectacular by day but I wasn't sure it was a safe area to be in at night on my own. So I made do with what I had and was quite excited to have seen it for real. I closed my eyes and imagined I could hear the music of the Can Can and the girls squealing as they performed for the patrons of the club. Across the road is a huge circular vent, about four or five metres in diameter, I guess from the Metro. Girls were standing on the mesh covering doing Marilyn Munro impersonations as best they could in jeans - it was funny to watch. I took a photo for a couple so they could both be immortalised, and in return they took one of me...just as I was saying "Just a minute while I take my glasses off"...oh well. I'm definitely going to look into contact lenses when I get back.

Right beside the Moulin Rouge was a "Quick" hamburger shop, so I decided to eat here as I was a bit over baguettes and crepes by now. It was OK, just like McDonalds basically.

I originally wasn't going to "do" the Eiffel Tower but it got the better of me (and anyway it meant I'd get to test my skills at getting somewhere new on the Metro) so I decided to head over, if only to have a look at it up close and personal. It really is huge and is currently painted a brown colour. Luke, the tour guide from yesterday, told us it was originally painted orange for the 1889 World's Fair it was created for (somehow that seems a little gaudy), and has been a variety of colours since then. It has been brown for about eight years or so. I hope they keep it that colour to retain its dignity; somehow a hot pink Eiffel Tower just doesn't seem right.

I thought €7.40 ($15) was a reasonable price to pay to go up to the second level as I'd heard the view was pretty spectacular. Off I went, ticket in hand, to the elevator WITH GLASS SIDES - no-one mentioned that when they sold me the ticket!!!! "OK Liz you'll be fine, you're just going to the second level it will be OK. Millions of people do it every year and survive and look, those little kids don't look too worried." I told myself.

As we slide up the north leg of the tower I felt like vomiting, lucky it had been a while since lunch. No way was I going to make it to the second level without embarrassing myself either by throwing up, crying or turning into a statue and not being able to move when it was time to exit. Anyway I'm sure the view from the second level couldn't be that much better than the first level, so I got off at the first level. It was a beautiful view which I thoroughly enjoyed, all the famous landmarks stood out and the city stretched for miles, but be warned those of you who aren't good with heights,

So then it was off home to download photos and write blogs to keep you all up-to-date with what I'm doing.