More Paris, France

On Monday, we picked up Nathan and Pia again and took the Metro back to Paris. We tried again to get inside Notre Dame Cathedral, but the line was even longer than on Friday, so we bailed out again. Then it was north to Montmartre and the Basilica of Sacré Couer (Sacred Heart), which stands majestically on a hill overlooking Paris and is the second-most popular tourist destination after the Eiffel Tower. It too, was massively crowded with a long line to get in, so we enjoyed the views from the hill and admired the outside of the beautiful 1914 basilica, then moved on to the nearby Saint-Pierre, the church of the Montmartre Abbey and the second-oldest in Paris. According to legend, Montmartre (Hill of the Martyrs) was where Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and the patron saint of France, was beheaded by the Romans in the 3rd century. A popular Christian story tells of the decapitated Denis picking up his head and walking several miles to his chosen burial site while preaching a sermon on repentance. Map link: Montmartre, Paris

We ate lunch at Cafe Mareva in Montmartre, then took the train to the Tuileries Garden on the Seine, strolling through the park and Christmas Market and taking a ride on the ferris wheel, with breathtaking views of the city. Map link: Jardin de Tuileries; Paris.  After a quick cup of hot chocolate, we returned to the house and changed for dinner, walking to a neighbor’s who had invited us all over. We had some amazing Indian food and Marjorie’s holiday cookies for dessert, staying until 11:00 PM.

Bonus Question: What automobile brand’s name means “listen” in Latin? (Answer at end of post).

Bonus Question Answer: In 1899, August Horch opened the A.Horch automobile company in Cologne, Germany. After a dispute and split with his partners in 1909, he lost the right to use his own surname for a new auto company. Horch means “listen” in German and he named the new venture “audi,” the Latin translation of Horch. In 1932, Audi merged with three other German carmakers—the rings of the current Audi logo symbolize the four companies that became one.

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