My favorite day was Friday. Not only because the storms of Wednesday cooled the air down considerably. Not only because I had all my clothes and I was in Paris. Friday I went to Montmartre.
My City Walk Paris deck has three cards for Montmartre. The first two guide you to Sacre Coeur and around the sights of the hill. The third leads you to the Cimetiere de Montmartre, possibly one of the most peaceful spots in the city. Put the three cards together and, theoretically you have a decent walk of the neighborhood.
Except that I had trouble following the cards. I can read a map. Really, I can read a map. I have excellent spacial memory and once I have navigated to a location, I don't need assistance finding it again. Except for my hotel room when walking back from the Eiffel Tower. I got lost every time I tried it. But everywhere else in the city, I was fine. Totally ok. Really!
The directions on Montmartre 1:
Metro: Blanche (the cards tell you which Metro stations to use at the beginning and end of a walk).
"Head up rue Lepic."
Which way, precisely, is "up" from the Metro station? Seriously. I was totally confused.
"You'll pass Moulin de la Galette on your left."
If I head up rue Lepic, I will not see Mouline de la Galette on my left. Why? Because I already passed the giant windmill. It is difficult to miss. It is also incredibly ugly and screams Tourist Trap in flashing red capital letters. It is the first thing you see when you turn around at the top of the metro stairs.
"Across the street [from Cine 13] is a sculpture of a man coming through a wall..."
Really? They must have extracted that poor man from the wall. The sculpture was gone.
"Continue over to rue l'Abreuvoir, then up rue des Saule to admire Paris's last remaining vineyard..."
She fails to mention that the vineyard is behind a ten foot wall.
"Local artists (among them Picasso and Renoir) once gathered at The Lapin Agile..."
I could not find the cafe. I have no idea where it is located. The directions on the card say "just below the vineyard on the corner." But everything is "just below" when the walls are ten feet high.
Montmartre 2
Metro: Lamarck Caulaincourt
I ended up completely lost while attempting to follow the directions on the second card. I have no idea how I ended up at Sacre Coeur, except to say that I kept going "up" on the notion that the church would appear to me eventually.
A Confession and an Aside: I am a seriously lapsed Catholic. Lapsed enough that I know for a fact that some of J's friends are praying for my safe return into the arms of "the church". It is not going to happen, but that is another entry for a different day.
However I am not so lapsed that I am not offended by the general disrespect many tourists have for active parishes, such as Notre Dame de Paris. Some of the churches (such as Notre Dame) encourage this behavior when they install gift shops within the walls of the cathedral, then have the nerve to complain that the tourists will not lower their voices and put their photographic equipment away while a priest is saying mass.
Sacre Coeur and Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres stand out for actively discouraging such behavior. Chartres is closed to all but participants during mass. Sacre Coeur does not allow photographic equipment (although you can sneak it in) and will turn away anyone with a camera in his/her hand. It is a nice contrast to Notre Dame de Paris.
Both have gift shops though.
I lit a candle in Sacre Coeur at the window of Jeanne d'Arc for my deceased grandparents and took a slow walk around the interior. I left with an impression of light from the windows and the white stone walls. And ran into a gauntlet of vendors attempting to draw my picture (For free!) and tie string around my finger (Hey pretty lady, Don't worry, be happy).
Once I had escaped from the street vendors greedy grasp, I wandered down the streets toward the cemetery. Naturally I missed the entrance on the first attempt. Once inside I wandered through the old rows of stone, peering into ruined altars and looking at the masses of flowers covering some of the graves. I missed my opportunity to pay my respects to Edgar Degas, but I'm certain he'll survive. After my long wander I did not have the energy to find George Sand's house and headed back to the hotel.
Wall Art to follow. Enjoy the photographs of Montmartre.
No comments:
Post a Comment