Souls and Soles - Hurray for walking shoes

Readers may have noticed a lapse in entries.  It was a choice between sleeping and blogging, and sleeping won.  Now we're back on US soil once again, yet when I close my eyes, the sights, sounds and senses of Paris linger. Let the blogging resume!

Monday, Day 5.   Plan for the day:  meet up with Ann-Catrine and Clas for a visit to Monmartre and Sacre Coeur, do a turn in the Louvre while they cruise the right bank, reconnect for dinner with Ann and Clas.  Such a few words to describe so many steps!  Still groggy from late night hours (blogging is hard work!), we met on the street outside the green door of 16 Rue Linné and walked to Place Jussieu to catch the 67 bus to Place Pigalle.  Catherine had recommended the bus, because it was a direct route and required no changes.  However, halfway there, the driver announced that everyone had to get off, and our empty bus drove away.  We decided that he must have had to pee.

Nevertheless, another #67 bus arrived shortly, and we resumed our journey, arriving in short order at Place Pigalle. Our destination, Sacre Coeur, stands atop one of the highest hills in Paris, with a commanding view of the city to the south.  Long a magnet for artists, the area swarms with tourists, and one has a choice of bus, tacky train/bus, funicular tramway, or walking to get to the top.  We chose to walk, but opted not to follow the direct (and steep) route that culminates in the famous stairs, but rather set off down Boulevard de Clichy, starting a gradual traverse of the slope.  This turned out to be one of Paris's more flagrant red light districts, with nightclubs, strip joints, and sex shops lining both sides of the boulevard, and our stroll shortly brought us to the infamous Moulin Rouge.    

 

Doesn't look all that impressive during the day, but compare our view with a nighttime perspective, add loud pulsing music and the pervasive haze of cigarette smoke, and voila! Legendary Paris nightlife!










Continuing uphill, we entered a series of narrow, cobbled streets with narrow sidewalks, ever leading upwards and becoming increasingly more mercantile. 

The expansion of boutiques and 
cafés was matched by an increase in crowds, and a concomitant proliferation of wares aimed at visitors.  Among these, reproductions of classic Parisian posters with Toulouse-Lautrec images were most recognizable. Rounding a final corner, an island of trees, ringed by seated and standing artists in successive stages of conceiving, creating, and hawking their expressions evoked a bustling energy that was the well-known Place du Tertre, just below the summit of Montmartre. 

Around the sides of the Place were innumerable brasseries and cafés, filled mostly with visitors, but occasionally hosting unforgettable faces such as this
Parisian Artiste Extraordinaire, complete with cigarette, béret, and paint-spattered pants.


In the near distance, spire-topped domes of Sacre Coeur rose above the picturesque landscape, signaling the culmination of our long climb and the imminence of one of the most famous views of Paris.  

 

  A few more steps and there we were, on the steps of Montmartre, along with many others beholding the hazy distant expanse of the rooftops of Paris.  Behind us was the church itself, magnificently framed against the blue sky, with stately statues faithfully guarding the portals.  

 


Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed inside the sanctuary, so Annie wasn't able to document the arching and elaborate interior, but the outside view gives a good sense of the
expanse within.  Imagine standing at the front entrance to the sanctuary, then turning around.  Voila – Paris extends before you!

 
There were the famous stairs on which centuries of supplicants had trod, climbing to the sanctuary to be closer to the Deity, beset by generations of gypsies and other scam artists inventing new twists implementing perpetuation of PT Barnum’s conviction that there’s a sucker born every minute.  Clas snapped a quick picture, and here we are, among the throngs.  

 





However, a few steps to the west, we found a shady path, fewer people, and an opportunity for an even better photograph, and Clas again obliged.  

From atop Montmartre, there are many lovely panoramas of Paris,and Annie snapped quite a few frames, but my favorite was this one, giving an unforgettable impression of the typical chimney aggregation that is the classic Paris silhouette.  The slight hazy quality is the result of breaking photographic rules and shooting towards the sun, but the effect is dream-like, and you get the pigeon as a bonus.

Leaving the summit of Monmartre, we followed the same route we’d taken earlier and were happy to find a sunny café for refreshment. 

 

Le Chinon offered the classic Croques Monsieur and Croques Madame, as well as our favorite French beer, Kronenbourg 1664.  Annie preferred hot chocolate, and enjoyed it, whipped cream  and all! 

Refreshed and renewed, we retraced our steps to the Place Pigalle, opted for the Metro instead of the bus, and headed for a rendezvous with Mme Mona Lisa.