Paris en Pluie

Nous arrivons en Paris, et trouvons que il fait trop pluie....  Or something like that.  When we reached Paris, having taken the TGV from London, we locked our bags at Gare du Nord (a great way to save your back dans la Citie).  Intermittent rain followed us throughout the remainder of the day, getting steadier as night fell.  We almost broke down and got umbrellas, and in fact, should have done so.  At any rate, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant near the north side of the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.  After dinner, we splashed our way up the steps and to our room in the guesthouse.  The next day, we made the Holy Hour of adoration we had signed up for, and attended mass.  We left in search of breakfast, immediately walking into a rain that seemed to soak through everything.  As we conceded defeat and began to look for umbrellas to ward off the rain, it suddenly lifted, and the sky began to clear.  With brightened spirits, we got a quick bite to eat, and returned to the Cathedrale de Notre Dame, to take the requisite pictures, which we had skipped upon our first visit.  A half hour later, skipping the hour-long wait at Saint-Chappelle, we found ourselves on the Rue de Montparnasse, a small bit of Crepe Heaven.  Any one of the dozen places we looked into would have sufficed, but we chose, and spent a leisurely lunch hour consuming excellent crepes.  We then set out in search of the car rental location, which took about an hour of exploring to find.  Car in hand, or under-seat, rather, we returned to Gare du Nord for our bags, and left Paris.  Though our visit was brief, the city had exerted a grip on us, and refused to let us leave easily, throwing an extra hour or more of traffic at us, to keep us near.  We fought through the Paris traffic, and made our way to Chartres.