Montmartre and Sacre Coeur
Friday in Paris was to be our busiest day. We were going to hit all the major Parisian attractions, so we got going early. Our house happened to be not far from Montmartre, which is the name of a hill in Paris and also the name of the surrounding area. Back in the day, it was a place where many artists had studios or worked around the community. You may recognise some of their names: Salvador Dalí, Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. Today there are still many artists who set up their easels in the area, try to capture the essence of Paris and sell their work to the tourists who pass there heading for the basilica of the Sacred Heart or Sacre Coeur. That was our first destination. We left the house and started to walk. After awhile, we became uncertain about which way to go, so Dad and his trusty French came to the rescue, as they had so many times during our trip. He asked this cute French woman to point the way. She did better than that, she offered to take us where we wanted to go as it was on her way. She led us up the hill, along curving streets and through picturesque parks until we entered the Place du Tertre. There were artists everywhere, painting and selling their wares. Above the rooftops, we could see the gleaming white dome of the basilica. We said "Au revoir" and "merci" to our wonderful guide and fanned out into the plaza to look at the paintings.
Here is one of the curving streets we took on our way up to Montmartre
Here is the plaza with all of the artists.
In these two pictures, you can see the white basilica in the background. After admiring the handiwork of the artists in the area, we headed for the Church of the Sacred Heart.
The basilica is located at the summit of the Montmartre, which is the highest point in the city. The cornerstone of the basilica was laid in 1875, but the building was not completed until 1914. We went in and walked around the inside of the church, and then Heather, Joanna, Sandra, Dad and I decided to climb to the top and check out the view. I left Chase with Mom and Aunt Laraine and we paid our fee and headed up the stairs.
In the stairwell.
The view from the top was spectacular! We were lucky that it was such a clear day. Sandra got her first good look at the Eiffel Tower and we were all in agreement that it had been well worth the climb.
Here is one of the curving streets we took on our way up to Montmartre
Here is the plaza with all of the artists.
In these two pictures, you can see the white basilica in the background. After admiring the handiwork of the artists in the area, we headed for the Church of the Sacred Heart.
The basilica is located at the summit of the Montmartre, which is the highest point in the city. The cornerstone of the basilica was laid in 1875, but the building was not completed until 1914. We went in and walked around the inside of the church, and then Heather, Joanna, Sandra, Dad and I decided to climb to the top and check out the view. I left Chase with Mom and Aunt Laraine and we paid our fee and headed up the stairs.
In the stairwell.
The view from the top was spectacular! We were lucky that it was such a clear day. Sandra got her first good look at the Eiffel Tower and we were all in agreement that it had been well worth the climb.
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