It’s Saturday so I don’t want to do anything too touristy (I’ve heard the lines at the Eiffel Tower are longer on the weekends) but I have a lot of touristy things to do. I book a cruise on the Seine (I loved the canal cruise in Amsterdam), set off for Montmartre (because I want to but also because Amanda asked me to relive as much of Amelie as I could), and challenged myself to only eating things that cost less than €5 (preferably around €3).
I stopped at a fruit stand and got a basket of strawberries and a tangerine (less than €3), took the Metro to Anvers, where I found a little park in the middle of the road. I sat in the shade, read my book and nibbled on my fruit loving that I could pace myself as slowly as I liked. Now, where is the Sacre Coeure? I looked up a narrow street, and there it was!
I stopped at a stand and got a crepe avec Nutella and climbed the hill. On top it was HOT and crowded. Today’s high was predicted to be 91 and strangers kept commenting on my sunburn (I continued to wear sunscreen and didn’t see why it was such a big deal) so instead of standing in the long line, I found a spot to sit in the shade and read a little more while portrait artists hustled tourists. I followed the crowds around and found the square of artists, weaving my way through the people seeking the charming non-touristy areas I’d heard so much about.
I found this windmill, and then a less touristy street. 
By now I really needed to find a bathroom, so I stopped at this restaurant, used the facilities and ordered a glass of rose (€4,50) and happily sipped and read and loved living in Paris (this week).
I liked looking down this street. Then I found a street where there were endless cell phone shops and ethnic salons.
I was hot and my feet were swollen, but I decided to find my way to the Moulin Rouge nearby and then make my way to the river cruise. I found a map and found that I had been walking in the wrong direction, so I corrected myself, found a supermarket and bought a tabouleh salad (less than €3). I knew I was heading in the right direction because there were lots of sex shops. I found the Moulin Rouge, but didn’t take a picture since I planned to get tickets to see a show (this was before I saw how expensive the tickets were). I found a metro station, found which 2 trains to take to dock, and was very proud of myself.
My first view of the Eiffel Tower was on the Metro as it crossed over the Seine. That was really cool.
I wasn’t quick enough with my phone, so I snapped this view from the street.
Now it was really hot. And the pier seemed so far away. And there was no shady side of the street. I made it to the boat, found a shady seat and started sweating. There was an audio guide, but the device was like an awkward payphone that came out of the back of the seat and recited boring poetry (from the little that I listened to). I decided that this was not as good as the canal cruise.
After a couple of minutes I found a place to sit outside in the breeze in the shade of the boat and I started to cool down and enjoy the cruise. We sailed by the Louvre and the Notre Dame:
While I would have preferred a glass of wine, cooler temperatures and a better audio guide system (the things the canal cruise did better), overall I did enjoy seeing Paris from the river. I especially liked watching the people sitting on the river’s edge and wondering what their lives were like. There were 2 set of brides being hoisted and kissed by their grooms, both posing and different angles to get the Eiffel Tower in the background. I went up to the top viewing deck where the breeze was cool to get another view of the tower. I was reminded of my first visit to the Statue of Liberty where I was on the island for longer than there was entertainment and came home with a roll of pictures of 30 different angles of the Statue of Liberty. This felt more spectacular because I didn’t stay long enough for the wow factor to fade.
It was 6pm so I decided to return for my trip to the top closer to sunset (which would be 3 1/2 hours later) on another day. I made my way home and repeated my dinner on the canal from the previous night (wine and aqua frizzante for less than €5 and a sandwich for less than €3). My fitbit told me I walked 8 miles that day (in flipflops).