August 24

MONTMARTRE

Today was a good one.  We took the Metro to Montmartre and had the whole day to explore. Debbie was thrilled to find Place de St. Pierre, a whole street of fabric shops, and had a difficult time deciding which ones to purchase.  A tough job, but someone had to do it; I don't sew and admired from afar.  The clerk here was the one who suggested the toilet across the street (more about it later).

We then wandered up the hill and back down to the boulevard, wanting to make sure where we were to meet our walking tour in the afternoon.  It was fun looking through the shops, and a few dripdrops of rain arrived, only to disappear after the vendors had moved all of their stuff inside.   Settled for lunch of crepes (mine was salmon filled, really good) and had a table where we could watch the people go by. It was a bit startling to see Michael Jackson outside our window, posing with tourists (what an innovative startup business!)

We then learned that the metro stop we thought was the meeting place was the wrong one, so we literally flew up the hill and arrived just in time to meet our group and our leader, Cerise, who is British and previously known as Cherry, which is cerise in French. There were 18 people in our group and I cannot begin to make notes of all that we saw, but will try to touch a few highlights.  I was impressed by the professionalism; this groups leads walks to different areas on different days of the week-- I must do the Hemingway one and the Resistance and the Occupation (after of course seeing the film, Sarah's Key and reading "Suite Francaise").   There is another walking tour group, Discovery Walks, which is free and of course tips expected; these are led mostly by university students and take place every day, somewhere.  I'll let you know if I discover them.     

 Later in my stay another friend and I will visit the beaches of Normandy.  Learning about a country where WW II was fought on their soil and the destruction and losses cannot be imagined by most Americans, I don't think--of course we have fought and lost in foreign places where we didn't belong, but you don't see it all the time. I'm learning a lot about both Normandy and Brittany by doing this research.  This will be my birthday trip.

 We wound around the area and Cherie showed us many of the famous gourmet markets, where we wanted to return but couldn't find later. 

 Down the street she pointed out the location of the Moulin Rouge.  Back near the Abbess metro, we sat on benches and learned about the artist who created a huge wall, writing I Love You in over 300 different languages, including Braille.

  It just got better.  Upward we wound and passed the apartment where Van Gogh lived for awhile, followed by the studio of Toulouse Latrec.  I couldn't believe I was seeing all of this.  Montmartre back then was a cheap area to live in, being outside the Paris zone and thus not having to collect the taxes that the Parisians paid. Many people flocked there to buy wine also, which I learned was not always the best quality. 

the famous windmills

Next we saw the mansion which was owned by the singer Dalida, second in popularity in France only to Edith Piaf, where she tragically ended her life.  Cherie pointed our one of the two remaining windmills in Montmartre, the Moulin de la Galette, Renoir's famous painting; it is now a restaurant.

 Every street had something to reveal to us as we made our way to the final destination of the Basilica Sacre Coeur. Now we were at the home where Renoir lived with his family and nearby the Lapin Agile, the cafe where Picasso and Modigliani were regulars. Near a small courtyard is the statue of St. Denis, patron saint of France, and the fountain where he is reputed to have stopped to wash off his head, after being beheaded in the third century and carrying his head down the hill. The statue depicts him carrying his head.

 
  Nearby is the pink house made immortal by painter Maurice Utrillo (I didn't know of him before visiting l'Orangerie) and next the Musee de Montmartre, from which we peeked in and could see the courtyard; it was here that a number of French artists lived, including Renoir.

where Renoir lived with family

We saw the vineyards through the iron fence, and learned that the wine really isn't very good. The first Saturday in October there is a Harvest Festival here.  We wound through the many tourists, artists and street vendors at Place du Tertre (near here is the St. Pierre de Montmartre church, which can be explored if there is time.

My legs were starting to become like jelly after all of that uphill walking and I was happy when we reached our final destination, the Basilica de Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) on the hill, from which one can see all over the city. It was built because the church St. Pierre de Montmartre was no longer large enough for the growing population. The Basilica stands on the highest point of the city, and is visible all over the city.  the church is a parish of pilgrimage and a 24 hour vigil has been held here continuously for nearly a century.  Work on the basilica began in 1876; twenty-eight horses were needed to draw the wagon of the Savoyarde bell, one of the world's largest.  Visitors may climb to the stained glass gallery in the dome for a view of the church's interior.   I would have liked to do this if we had not walked all morning and had taken the funicular from the metro stop to the top of the hill.

Time to close the musings for this day; just enough time to see where Paris Walks is walking over the weekend.

 We had a really nice day today, highlighted by the walking tour we did with Paris Walks. I was very impressed with the professionalism of our leader, and liked the small group of 18.  The tour was well worth the 12 euros price and we learned a lot in our two and one half hours of exploring this area.