Basilique Sacre due Coeur @ Montmartre
Today we visited the Basilique Sacre due Coeur at Montmartre.
The inside of the church was similar to the inside of Notre Dame, though scaled down. I've been disappointed to find in all of these beautiful churches tacky souvenir medallion vending machines. I'm sure they pull in some decent revenue for the churches, but they really take away from the sanctity/mood in my opinion.
We also paid to view the Crypt and Panorama (climbing to the top). The crypt was a bit underwhelming, and although the panorama provided some nice views of Paris and other landmarks, it was very similar to the view at the top of Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe. The path to the top was very narrow and short; it would not be a comfortable trip for someone that is big and/or tall.
The most memorable part of the day was our experience with the street vendors in front of the church. They were by far the most aggressive ones we've run into. The vendors at the foot of the stairs got our attention, grabbed our hands, and then tried to tie strings to them. I kept trying to pull my hand away, but the vendor would not let go. I was starting to get upset when they finally let us go.
I also watched some street gamblers during lunch for an hour and confirmed they had accomplices. Three people were dressed as tourists and "gambling" with them the entire time. The 3 would walk off and then come back and cheer on real tourists that got sucked into the scam.
Tomorrow morning we take off for the last leg of our trip in Copenhagen.
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