Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Montmartre


Walking Tour of Montmartre:
I took the metro to the Anvers stop and worked my way through the bizarre (which I may go back to shop at! The shops were filled with souvenirs and heaps and heaps of cheap overflowing clothes) and found the funicular. I had no idea what I was looking for - but easily found this small "elevator - incline" (one metro ticket) to Sacre-Coeur Basilica. The ride was nice but very quick.

Sacre-Coeur Basilica
The view from this church is extraordinary! You can take in the view of all of Paris! The numerous tourists and locals were treated to the songs of a street musician just on the steps in front of the basilica as they relaxed and ate their baguettes.
The interior of Sacre-Coeur was filled with numerous and intricate mosaics. The main mosaic was of Christ with his outstretched arms over visitors seated in the pews below.




Place du Tertre
This little town square was filled with cafes, artists, shops, and crepes! The "bohemian" ambience is alive and well here! The center of the square was filled with artists selling their artwork of the eiffel tower, scenes of paris, or rows of artists ready to draw your portrait. The talent in this one little area was amazing. I strolled the narrow streets, picked up a sandwich and enjoyed the street view.



Here is one of the street performers.
She was singing while performing with this giant size music box.
She was attracting quite a crowd!


I stopped at the Boulangerie (bakery) - these little shops are quickly becoming my favorite break places! This is the before picture - everything is wrapped to cute!



And the after picture! This giant vanilla macaroon was delicious!



This was the little Boulangerie! It looks like a painting here!






Lapin Agile Cabaret
The avant-garde art community would gather here with the likes of Picasso, Renoir, Modigliani, ect. and do "performances" from poetry to singing to whatever else you can imagine!
This was the villages "hot spot"!


Picasso's Studio
This was once an artists' abode - as many as ten artists lived and worked together here. Sounds like a great little artists' community...





Moulin Rouge









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