Day 21
Another foggy morning but thankfully not so cold as it was
our first few days in Paris. Today was
for exploring our own neighbourhood. We’re
staying in a lovely flat on Rue LePic in Montmartre and every day we see people
trudge up the street (and trudge they do – remember how steep our little
side-street is) headed for Sacre
Coeur. Because we like to sample local
transport we thought we’d give the funicular a go but our trudge brought us out
about half way up the funicular. Option
1 – go down the 100+ stairs just to catch the thing up or keep going and conquer
the remainder of the 248 stairs. We chose
up – and what a view when we got there!
We were also treated to some divine Christmas music from a man with a
half-size harp.
Big and white (its made of travertine) and gorgeous, it’s a
relative new-comer on the Paris skyline – building started in 1875 and finished
in 1914 but the Great War intervened and it was consecrated in 1919. The mosaic in the apse is incredible.
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| The back of Sacre Coeur |
Just round the corner is the much plainer and virtually
empty St Pierre du Montmartre, celebrating its 870th anniversary
this year. Their very modern take on the nativity was lovely.
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| This altar was incredible - very modern but really lovely |
From here you run the gauntlet of artists touting their
ability to draw your likeness… and you’re into Place de Tertre – legendary square
of the Parisian artists for over a hundred years. Picasso, Renoir and Dali all painted here
when they lived in Paris.
I was gutted to find the Espace Dali museum closed for
renovation! Grrrrrrrr! But on the way we
encountered something quite unexpected.
A pre-wedding photo-shoot for an Asian bride & groom. They go on a holiday to some photogenic destination
and have their wedding photos taken, then at their reception (on the day they
are married) all these photos are displayed via a non-stop powerpoint
slideshow.
Back down the hill, almost past our flat and the Montmartre
Cemetery. Opened in 1825 in an abandoned
gypsum quarry it is the final resting place of Degas (artist) Alexander Dumas
(writer) Vaslav Najinsky (dancer) and a whole load of other French notables
from the arts, sciences, music etc.
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| Looking into the cemetery from the roadway built over the top of part of it. |
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| This one even had stained glass windows |
The cemetery is home to a stack of cats. I commented to Tony how well fed and healthy
they looked – a little later I knew why.
We headed back to the flat and I went out again – just for
an hour or so to check out the fabric streets. What astounded me was the way that one of the stores displayed their fabric. These mannequins are only about 1m tall and their outfits are immaculately constructed
Most of you probably know I am a bit of a Christmas Market
tragic (blame Lauren and our lovely friend Dagmar for introducing me to their
delights when we visited Germany in 2012) and until now we have both been
really disappointed with the distinct lack of markets. The one at the Eifel Tower doesn’t open till
22nd – really! ……. Who opens a Christmas market 3 days before Christmas,
the one on the Champs Elysees isn’t running this year due to a disagreement between
the owner and the city council, the one at the Trocadero just isn’t there
either!
So tonight we set out full of hope to visit the market at La
Defence – billed as the biggest in Paris (now that the market on the Champs is
gone) We weren’t disappointed – it was
big, clean, lovely, well set out and had a huge range of things … except Christmas
decorations… the main reason I go to them.
We did a circuit, then headed into the next-door shopping mall and was
so close to posting something rude on my FB – something along the lines of
:where do the bloody French people buy their Christmas decorations” when we
found a solitary shop – a large solitary shop selling nothing but Christmas
decorations. I left a happy girl!
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| One stall had a massive selection of nativity animals |
Tomorrow is our last day in Paris and the Musee D’Orsay is on the agenda.
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