Cemeteries, Cells and Churches

2nd post today - but I am finishing up Paris - getting picked up at 6am tomorrow for flight to Istanbul, another currency, another language, another country. Started our trip by buying 20 metro tickets and are down to 2, have walked about 5 miles a day and each metro station has long flights of steps in and out - figure it out: my thighs have gotten stronger and I'm glad I am a walker. Today visited the Conciergerie, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre and a Cemetiere Montmartre. Lots of people know how much I love cemeteries:)

This was a rather odd tombstone - not sure who the woman is but certainly appears to be of a lower order than the man! The place per guidebook "is packed with graves of the famous".

Streetcorner in Montmartre - on the walk from the church to the cemetery - quiet area of town today but it is the neighborhood of the Moulin Rouge (home of the cancan!). My black pants are on their 5th day now but working out real good! The t-shirt is a sport one that dries quickly in case you care.

View of just a small part of the cemetery from the bridge above - it's looks like a little town - of dead people!

First stop this morning - walked to Conciergerie - "the ghosts of the victims of the guillotine haunt this stark and gloomy place that served as a prison and torture chamber for 5 centuries". Marie Antoinette was beheaded here - I think the population was poor and starving. She was a royal from Austria, 37 years old at death and had 4 children, 3 living. She had TB and most likely uterine cancer at this time. This time was called the Reign of Terror - the peasants revolted against the royalty. I've also read that is it most likely not true that she said "Let them eat cake"!

Marie's name is on the list of 2,278 who had their heads cut off with a guillotine! The inventor of this machine was Dr. Guillotin. They had a celebratory funeral "feast" the night before the big event and the more important and wealthier the person the bigger the party and then boom - gone! She was handcuffed, in a simple dress and paraded through Paris.

As a royal and wealtheir person, this was her cell; many had only the concrete floor.

This is the famous Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) which was built in memory of the 58,000 dead of the Franco-Prussian War in the 1870s. The best thing is the view of Paris from the steps. It is the 2nd highest point in Paris after the Eiffel Tower.

Hmmm - he had me fooled until he moved - I thought it was a statue but it is a mime - a good one too!

So Paris has been great, we are rested, have gotten a lot of exercise, endured the warmth and are returning tonight to a good restaurant 48 seconds from our front door. Good things today - an omelet for lunch - French eggs are the best - and the free bathrooms at the cemetery!