PARIS DAY 2: Deuxième Jour

Greetings from Paris… in the wee hours—

Today we began our walking days… clocked in at about 15,000 steps and 12 floors. And I can feel it.

We headed to Sacre Coeur, the focal point of Montmartre—a basilica (don’t ask me what the differences are between a cathedral and a basilica and a church) located at the top of the hilly Montmartre neighborhood in the 9^th ar.  From the dome, which is about 200 meters above the Seine, the basilica overlooks the entire city of Paris and its suburbs. It’s a big attraction and the lines are often very long to get inside. Approaching the basilica is a bit like a circus with various mimes and hawkers selling everything from miniature basilicas to Eiffel Tower key chains, and then there are the singers and performers and those selling crepes on the street. In any case the interior is quite striking (although for me a bit too overrun with commercial signs “advertising” all sorts of events related to the church. 

From what I was able to glean from the Internet, while waiting to enter Sacre Coeur, the basilica was first proposed in the late 1800s after the defeat of France and the capture of Napoleon in the Franco Prussian War.  Apparently, Napoleon blamed his defeat on France’s moral decline and proposed the formation of a new church dedicated to the “sacred heart” of Jesus. The building was conceived before the outbreak of the Paris Commune, but it wasn’t constructed immediately. And since it was to be built at the highest point in the city, overlooking the area where the Paris Commune began, it remains for some, even today, controversial with politicians on the Left because it symbolizes the reactionary politics of the time. 

We took a very circuitous route to get to Sacre Coeur – meandering through narrow alleys and cobblestone streets that are classic Montmartre. We stopped at one of the many Christmas markets, went to see several “passages,” and followed some of the street art that adorns many streets in the area. One big attraction seems to be a giant installation that covers one side of a large building. It’s systematically represents every written/spoken language using many different fonts and handwritten phrases—all of which translate to “I love you.” Being the “city of love” I suppose this is a logical statement. The place is filled with people taking selfies and photos with partners. We skipped the photo op but I did take lots of pictures of others taking pictures of themselves and their sweeties. A bit too schmaltzy for me… but I loved how much attention it got.

We also did a bit of window shopping. And we stopped at Halle Saint Pierre—a wonderful building that houses an art focused book store, a café, a gallery dedicated to “outsider art,” and more. We spent quite a bit of time there and came close to buying a few things, but then realized the difficulty of carrying the stuff back.

Oh, I should mention that we cheated a bit and took the funicular from the base of the church property to the three flights of steps leading to the entry. It’s a one- or two-minute ride. I actually love funiculars. Once we left Sacre Coeur we headed to see the oldest winery (very small) in Paris and that took us on another route back to the hotel where we needed to hustle to freshen up for dinner.

Tonight we headed to 404, a tagine/Moroccan food place that I really like and where I’ve gone numerous times on various visits here. Took the Metro which was quite efficient. The area where 404 is located—on a very narrow street—has lots of ethnic restaurants, all pretty small. We opted for the pastilla (which is a favorite ever since we were in Morocco) followed by a wonderful lamb and apricot tagine. Drank Moroccan wine… and ended with a simple orange salad.

Took the Metro back to the hotel using a different route, and here I am —finishing up this little memoir for today.

We will be in Montmartre for two more days and then we will move to the Saint Germain neighborhood—before heading to Geneva briefly and then on to Sofia. We also decided we would take the train on Christmas Day to Angouleme to have Christmas dinner with our niece and her family. The dinner will be at the home of Julia’s mother-in-law and there will be lots of people from Julien’s side of the family. On the 26^th we will head to Geneva to see Mike’s sister-in-law. More on all of that as the days proceed.

Best –

Fern