Sightseeing is in full swing, although I don’t pack my days with everything all at once. Since I’m staying in Montmartre, this was obviously where I started. I looked up a self guided walking tour, something I will do regularly while being here, and off I went.

The weather is something else to be honest. It’s not that sunny, but the humidity will make you start to sweat in minutes. Combine that with the (few) staircases you have to climb in order go somewhere, you have to make sure you wear the right outfit. Walking around by yourself has its benefits, like you don’t have to wait for anyone and you can pick where to go first. With all those small streets and alleyways, it’s so easy to ‘get lost’, but since there are so many tourists walking around the area, you will find your way back easily. They (or we) are everywhere, and it’s not even summer yet! And the amount of Dutch people being here is insane, although I then wonder, do you run into your fellow country people because they are everywhere all the time, or is it because you recognise your own language that you think that?

Anyways, I finished my walk along the Montmartre highlights at a little cafe/lunchroom right next door my flat, for a plat du jour, since the menu was in French, this was for now the easiest, and fortunately it was delicious!

Next day, time for a walk outside my own neighbourhood. With the Hunchback of the Notre Dame as inspiration, I found a self guided tour through the Latin Quarter. It started, of course, at the square in front of the cathedral, which is still under construction, so no other option than only admiring the outside. Which is just as fun, I think I could sit there for hours, watching all the people doing silly tourist stuff. My tour took me to Shakespear and Company, an old bookstore with an attached cafe. The lines outside of it though, too long for me for now, I’ll come back some other time! The streets surrounding the cafe where not really my cup of tea, too many tourist oriented restaurants and as Ko nicely said, “this neighbourhood is verschrikkelijk, it’s only pizza, crepes and gyros to go, everywhere, and barrettes.” A quick look around, and off to something else.

My gps decided I needed some more steps on my counter, because it send me a lot further then was planned. I skipped some sightseeing steps and walked further to the Pantheon, and I made the plan to see stuff first from the outside, I can always come back and go in another time. The tour took me to the flat where Hemmingway used to live in, which was a fun little something.

Back home, I started looking for things to do the rest of the week, make a little plan. Tomorrow, which is today, the weather forecast wasn’t great. It’s supposed to rain the whole damn day, so yay. Almost every museum is closed on Tuesday, but I found out that Musée d’Orsay isn’t, so that was my great idea. I woke up calmly, since the museum opened exceptionally at 13:30 today, so there was no rush. I took the metro to the museum, and it was just a small walk from the station, in the rain. As I was walking, I wasn’t the only one. I saw so many umbrellas, and I guess everybody had the same great idea as mine, because the lines weren’t even funny. There were rows and rows on end, it even went around the corner. So I looked at it, laughed and continued back home. I mean, I’m here for a while, I’m not gonna spend that time in a massive line out and inside a museum. Better next time. For now, I’ve got my groceries, which is a challenge as it is always is in a different country, but fun nonetheless, and ready for Eurovision tonight. Maybe they have crazy viewing parties here as well…