Today is a national holiday, the Feast of the Ascension. Every Frenchman and every tourist was out and about for a four day weekend. Our ascent up the steps of Sacre Coeur felt like joining a pilgrimage. Got inside the splendid church just as the organ and choir and SRO congregation were in full throat. Goosebumps. Tiny steep alleys in Montmartre with the only remaining vineyard in the city.

The long line snaking along in the hot sun at Notre Dame suggested visiting another day so we just kept walking through the Ille St. Louis, the Marais, and hopping on the express train back home.

We took the bikes out for a spin through the forest next door. Lovely woods and an amazing network of bikeable trails.