Je Vois La Vie En Rose ...

After a breakfast of coffee, baguette, croissant and a pain au chocolat, I headed to the metro station en route to the area of Montmartre, where I would spend most of the day. In order to avoid the throngs of tourists and locals that inevitably gather there, I first started with Sacre-Coeur. This huge basilica, whose construction was completed in 1914, sits atop a hill (known as La Butte de Montmartre) and can be seen from many a vantage point throughout Paris. On my arrival, it was actually the very first thing I saw as I rode the train into the city.

The basilica itself is white in colour, said to be due to the calcite that the stone produces when it is exposed to rain water which in essence bleaches the stone to this pale colour. Against the bright blue sky, it is quite stunning. As I was climbing the stairs to reach the basilica, I was very much reminded of the Oratoire St-Joseph in Montreal. You also have a pretty stunning view of the entire city and again you can easily point out the major landmarks like Notre Dame, the Centre Pompidou and Les Invalides.

I of course made my way around the inside and took time to sit in a pew and soak it all in. There is a gorgeous pipe organ flanked by two beautiful and ornate wooden angels. The overall décor is actually relatively sedate, for a church at least, with the walls simply being of grey stone. There is mosaic work doted throughout with the central piece at the altar being a mural of Jesus with his arms outstretched. There are rosettes of stained glass throughout the building and with the sun shining, they send out these beautiful coloured reflections onto the grey walls. As I was walking around, I noticed a man praying quite intently at the statue of St. Peter while holding and rubbing the statue’s feet. You can tell that many before him have done the same as the statue’s feet are actually worn down. I remember seeing the same thing at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

From there, I just wandered aimlessly around Montmarte. The streets are of cobblestones and are lined with small souvenir shops, cafes and artists at the ready to show you their wares or draw something for you on the spot. It is so incredibly quaint and charming and truly my vision of what I thought Paris would be like.

I eventually reached Place Dalida. For the uninitiated, Dalida was a popular singer (for some reason, I always picture her as France’s version of Charo but my recollection of her is a little fuzzy … she died some time ago). There is a bust of her in this small square and similarly to St. Peter whose feet are worn from all of the people who touch him … Dalida also has a bit of her worn down. Ahem …her breasts!

Just up from Place Dalida is the Square Suzanne Buisson which includes a children’s playground, a large area where men can gather to play “boules” and the most disturbing of fountains I have ever seen. It is of St. Denis washing blood from his head … it is literally him holding his own decapitated head!! A bit of an odd choice for a children’s park if you ask me!

I made my way down the long Rue Lepic which is again lined with cafes, shops and beautiful apartments. Rue Lepic eventually ends at the Boulevard de Clichy, home to the famed Moulin Rouge. Of course made famous by the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec, the Moulin still attracts crowds of tourists with its dancing cabaret acts.

After a quick lunch, I back tracked a little to go see the Moulin de la Galette. You can barely see it unfortunately as it sits atop a small hill and is surrounded by trees. It is one of the last windmills of Montmartre and it dates back to 1604. Just down the street, there is also the Moulin du Radet although I do question whether it was ever one of the old Moulins of Montmartre. There is nothing written up on it in my guidebook. It is at that time that I noticed a small café (Prohibido) that offered free wifi internet (or as the French would say …wee-fee). The internet was out in the hotel and I had decided to throw the laptop in my backpack in case I found such a place. I always like to send word that I have made it safe and sound and had been unable to do so until then (plus being away seems to be my lucky charm … two photo sales in as many days!). I had a café crème as I did so, which also meant that I could strike another thing off of my list of things to do in my lifetime … drink coffee in a café in Paris!

From there I continued down Rue des Abesses and would eventually reach Place des Abesses. The only reason that I wanted to visit this square is that this is home to the metro station of which I had a black and white print for the longest time in my bedroom. It has the old lettering and art deco awning. Once you see the photos, you will recognize it right away. It is incredibly difficult to get a photo of seeing that there are throngs of metro passengers (and tourists) coming in and out of that particular station. I did manage though but not without this old French man looking at this watch!!! The same pose that Jean-Francois always gives me … the Sears catalogue pose, we call it!

The square also had this quaint little garden area which included this huge mural with a dark blue background and included the words “I love you” in all different languages. Of course, someone had added graffiti right below the mural with the words “je t’aime pas” or “I don’t love you” to which someone had added “je t’aime c’est ca le probleme” or “I do love you, that’s the problem”. The square also included an old French woman sitting on a park bench mumbling to herself as she searched through this huge plastic bag. The only reason this caught my eye (and ear) is that in her ramblings I heard her say … aah putain! Ah the French!!

I continued walking a little bit more and reached Place Pigalle which is surrounded by strip bars, sex shops and the like (les nanas, tu sais!). It is from there that I grabbed the subway to the Cimetiere Pere Lachaise. I know quite the jump in atmosphere … from strip clubs to a cemetery!! This is a huge cemetery. You make your way through thousands upon thousands of family crypts through these wobbly little cobblestone streets. Some are in sad states of neglect, overgrown by moss and covered in fallen leaves while others are more modern and quite elaborate. There are maps along the way to help you find the more famous of inhabitants and of course, quite a few tourists milling about with guide books or maps in hand trying to desperately find these famous inhabitants. Not an easy feat I have to say … guide book or no guide book. So here is the trick … if you want to find Jim Morrison, just follow that guy in the whole crowd with all of the tattoos that looks like he would actually listen to The Doors. That’s pretty much what I did … he got me right there! Honestly don’t think I would have found it on my own … but there he is James Douglas Morrison. A completely non-descript crypt tucked away among so many others. The only distinguishing thing is the tens of tourists in front of it. From there I continued on to find Edith Piaf … she too was not easy to find but I found her. She is completely at the back of the cemetery. Her crypt is laden with fresh flowers with one urn etched with the initials EP. On the side there is a tablet that reads “Dieu Reunit Ceux Qui S’Aiment” … lyrics to her song Hymne a L’Amour. She is buried with her husband Theo Sarapo. Close by is the singer Henri Salvador who passed away in 2008 … quite a character he was!

From there, I made my way back closer to Notre Dame thinking that I would hop on the Bateaux Parisiens and do the one-hour cruise along the Seine to end off my day. As I made my way down to where the ticket window is, the boat was just pulling away from the dock for the 16:45 cruise … merde alors! I was under the impression that there were cruises that left every 30 minutes but alas the next one was at 20:00 … at this point, I needed food, water and my feet were the size of watermelons (walking on cobblestone all day long will do that to you!) so home to the Hotel Jeanne D’Arc it was. I plan on hitting this area tomorrow anyways so now at least I know the departure times!

I hit up my favorite new place “Aux Desirs de Manon” for my daily fix of French pastries. They should change the name to Les Desirs de Caroline because that truly what it is!! My mother would be salivating with her nose pressed up against the glass if she set foot in this place! So a raspberry tartlet it was this time around. The girl at the counter actually recognized me from yesterday…she must think I have no life!! I have to say that I have not found the Parisians at all rude … I am actually quite pleasantly surprised truth be told. There always seems to be a couple seconds delay between the time that the words leave my mouth and that they actually understand what I just said (to allow for the Quebec French to France French simultaneous translation of course!!) but otherwise I have found them quite pleasant.

So all in all, a very good second day!! And photo count … ridiculously high!

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