Wandering around Montmartre is a great way to spend an afternoon. It's streets narrow and steep, with most of them leading up the the hill that is crowned by Sacré Cœur.
Picasso, Dali, Pissaro, Degas and Van Gogh all left their marks here. Montmartre wasn't incorporated into the city of Paris until 1860, so it became known a wild, festive place outside the city walls that filled with cabarets and places to drink.
There are a lot of films that use Montmartre as their backdrop. My favorite, by far, is Amelie.
Fan of carbs that I am, the real reason for visiting the neighborhood was for this place, which I could smell from a mile away:
Le Grenier a Pain was the latest winner of Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Française de la Ville de Paris- the annual blind taste-test competition to choose the best baguette, and the honor to supply bread to the Presidential Palace for the next year. It did not disappoint. This is the standard I will now hold all baguettes to. I am a bit depressed because I know that very few in my lifetime with come close.
The winding path leading up to the basilica was lined with musicians, artist and street performers.
You get a little smile and a wave when you leave him change....he was amazingly still otherwise.
It's 300 steep steps to get to the top, which exactly what I need after bread and wine and pastry and whatever else I decided to eat beforehand.
Totally worth it for the view.
The hike down was a bit easier with gravity on my side and all.
I have a photo sequence of this guy that deserves its own post...
I'm not a religious person at all, but I do seem to go to an awful lot of churches.
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