The original "plan" for Friday was to go to Versailles. Before I left everyone had told me how lovely it is and it was a "must see". It is not however, located inside of Paris, it's about a 40-45 mins ride on the RER and a short bus ride. My concern with going by myself was that I did not think Natasha would do well with the ride there. Once there, I'd have to stop to let her eat and run around a bit and I'm sure she would continue to be a crazy monkey in the castle and in the Gardens. After her reaction to the Louvre earlier in the week, I decided it was not worth spending an entire day in Versailles when I would more than likely be spending 90% of chasing around my toddler and handling temper tantrums.

Owen also pointed out that because it is October, a lot of the statues may be covered for winter, the garden would not be as pretty as it was in the spring/summer, the fountain probably turned off (most of the time) and so that left only the castle. I decided for this particular trip, I'd skip Versailles and wait until we came back again to visit. Owen wants to come back again without Natasha so we can enjoy some of the night life of Paris. :0)

Instead, I got up, managed to work out my route on the Metro without any problems (a feat in itself!) and headed off to see Sacre de Coeur. It had been on my 'maybe' list of things to see as it did not get a strong opinion when I mentioned it to friends. I was also told it was in a bit more of a shadier park of town. :p Anyway, I hopped the metro and went regardless.

To be honest, I liked it a lot more then Notre Dame. It really is a gorgeous Basilica! With Natasha in tow, we climbed up to the very top! Not the best journey to take when you have a stroller, a 2 yr old, a back pack and a big DSLR camera. I felt like a real pack mule. Plus, about half way up Natasha decided she was not budging and tantrum'd up the last flight. :p I stopped at each "level" to give her 'breaks' but really, it was just too far for her.

Once at the top I went inside and sat down, giving Natasha a rest, some raisins and enjoying the choir and the beauty of the inside. When leaving, I started to dread the climb down. That's when from the steps of the Basilica I saw a trolly/train. I managed to get Natasha over to it with minimal fussing. You are required to purchase a ticket, but it's the same ticket you use for the Metro and since I had an Orange pass for the week it was not a problem. I only wish I'd seen it before I trekked all the way to the top!

It's actually though, easy to miss. When you walk up the hill to the entrance of the Basilica, you need to walk down the narrow street to the left and there you will find the trolly/train. It's blocked from view by the HUGE carasol located at the bottom of the stairs.

Next I went to Musee Rodin. Again not something that scored high on the list of things to see, but my friend Sannie highly recommended it as a beautiful museum and one that is quite a bit smaller and usually a lot less busy then the other ones.

I can say she was not lying, the museum was beautiful. About 1/4 of it is outside (the famous "The Thinker" statue) while there are 2 more floors located in a building (where you'll find the other famous statue "The Kiss"). The gardens though that surround the statues are gorgeous! There is also a cute little cafe located in the back of the gardens if you want to stop for a bit of a snack.

Natasha enjoyed this museum immensely since she got to run around like crazy in the gardens and there was not anything for her to break, crawl on or touch. Statues are pretty sturdy. :p


I did a quick lap inside, was told nicely no photography allowed (I actually did not see any signs, not that anyone pays attention to them, but I do try to) then a nice leisurely walk around the gardens before I left to head back to the hotel.