Paris, je t'aime! Part 9: Heading Up the Hill

In Part 8 of the Paris blog posts...well, we drank a lot and rode a boat.  It was pretty dang awesome.

Sacre bleu!  It's Sacre Coeur!

What was not so awesome was the aftermath the next morning; although we slept in until 8am (quelle horror!  Lazyboneses!), I admit to being a wee bit hungover, and even our plentiful breakfast in the cave at Les Tournelles couldn't completely get rid of my resulting headache (that'll teach me to have a dinner consisting entirely of cheese, crudites, and half a short can of Pringles.  Jesus, when will I learn I'm not a spring chicken anymore?).  However, it didn't matter - we were in Paris, and there was stuff to see!

We hopped on the metro and headed north for a change, first to the Hotel George Astotel, where we'd be staying in two more nights.  See, the plan was to check out of Les Tournelles the next morning, and hit the open road, driving to and spending the next night on the island of Mont Saint Michel (MSM).  We'd come back into Paris and spend one more night, this time at the George, then fly back home the following morning.  We knew our room on MSM would involve tons of climbing up windy stone staircases (everywhere!), so we didn't want to take our giant suitcase with us; a quick stop at the George confirmed they'd be happy to store our big bag for a few days until we claimed it back, which was darn decent of them.

Just another picture of the Seine.

Because we don't have enough already.

The lobby of the George -

it was a pretty cute little hipster-friendly hotel

From the George, we headed to our main destination for the morning - Montmarte.  Raised up on a hill in the northern part of Paris, Montmarte was an artists' colony during the end of the 19th century through the early 20th.  What folks weren't hanging out on the left bank were chilling here - Picasso, Renoir, Monet, Mondrian, Van Gogh, and so on.  It was kind of the seedier side of town at the time, and it's where Toulouse-Lautrec painted his famous cabaret scenes in spots like the Moulin Rouge.  Pigalle, the area where the George was located, is still kind of shady, but in a fun way, and on our walk, we passed several "theatres" where you could find any number of exciting displays.

Once we reached Montmarte proper, we started following a walking tour I found on the Frommers' website (don't tell Rick Steves!), and it gave us a good history of several important spots in the area.  While we were learning about the Abbesses metro station (one of the only ones that still sports the original, glass exit roof), we also took in the gorgeous church across the street, the Paroisse Saint Jean de Montmarte.

Look at the cool details on this place!

Keeping an eye on things...

While we were in the area, we also checked out the "Wall of Love," a piece created in 2000 featuring the phrase "I Love You" in over 300 different languages.

The hilly area around Montmarte is no joke.

Check this street scene

Our walking tour included a stop at the Bateau-Lavoir, originally a piano factory, but better known as a set of studio homes of famous, up and coming (read: struggling) artists.  Picasso lived here with several friends, and the name means "the Floating Laundry" (apparently, an in-joke of that crowd).

Montmarte is still very much a residential area,

with gorgeous homes and apartments everywhere.

We saw tons of folks walking their dogs

and enjoying the lovely weather - it was a Saturday, after all.

We next proceeded to see the Moulin de la Galette, a fancy restaurant that still houses one of the only true windmills left in the area.  A ways back, Montmarte had tons of vineyards (it still has one, which we'll see in a second...), and over 30 windmills helped keep things running (up on a hill = lots of wind).  The Galette is one of only two originals still existing.

Your intrepid tour guide

That's the moulin, behind the tree

Another Montmarte street scene

Sacre Coeur, peeking out above buildings

Looking back south toward the rest of the city

Following the walking tour, we eventually found ourselves in front of the one remaining vineyard in the entire city of Paris, the Clos Montmarte.  As it turned out, we happened to be there on the day of their annual celebration of the vineyard, so the area was a bit more crowded than normal.  However, we still had plenty of room to move around, and we enjoyed checking out the cool outfits on everyone, as they all lined up in parade formation.

Everyone outside the vineyard

The select crowd in the vineyard, giving speeches

We did mention Montmarte is hilly, oui?

Chris outside the Musee de Montmarte

Our walking tour ended at Sacre Coeur itself, which happened to be ground zero for a food and wine festival being held in conjunction with the vineyard celebration.  Correspondingly, the line to head inside was crazy long, so we satisfied ourselves taking pictures of the outside and of the city from the steps of the basilica.

Getting close!

The side of the basilica

More gargoyles!

Crowds on the steps of Sacre Coeur,

with city in the background

The front facade of Sacre Coeur

More city views

If you don't time your selfie right (see the shot that opened this post),

this is what it looks like.

So.many.people.

By this point, we were more than done with the crowds, and it was high time to find a spot for lunch!  Our first pick, Hardware Societe, had a line out the door, so we strolled to our second option, Jeanne B, and ended up there just a few moments before the doors opened.  While we waited, we took some shots of the surrounding area:

We didn't ride the Montmarte train,

but we did see it multiple times.

Once when it passed, the conductor was steering

with one hand and eating a sandwich with the other.

You don't want your conductor to get hangry.

We were Jeanne B's first customers of the day, and we snagged a primo spot on the patio, so we could dine and watch the world go by.

A kind Aussie tourist passing by took this shot for us

Even though Jeanne B's was our second choice for lunch, we couldn't have been more elated that we ended up here - the food was amazing, and even with everything we ate, this ended up being our best meal of the trip, hands down.  Like many spots in Paris, Jeanne had a three-coursed lunch option, with each of us having our choice of appetizers, mains, and dessert.  For my part, I started with a duck tartine, had roasted chicken with potatoes for my main, and a chocolate option for dessert; Chris had a creamy leek app, a seafood tartine for his main, and roasted figs for dessert.  Everything was absolutely delicious, and we cleaned up almost everything (I dropped a potato at some point in time, and a whippet being walked by his owners took care of that for me - he was a happy pup!).

Our duck tartine and leek apps.

OMG so good.

If you're ever going to Paris, you MUST go to Jeanne B's.  The owners and staff were kind and helpful, and the food was just plain to die for.  We saw another American couple roughly our age wander by a few times, reading menus in the area, and I let them know that if they were pondering things, they really needed to eat here.  They chose to sit down a few chairs down from us, and as we settled up and left, they gave us a hearty thumbs-up.  Good stuff, this.

Fully stuffed, we rolled back down the hill to the metro station, but instead of heading back to the Marais right away, we popped out in the Opera neighborhood, not too far from the Galeries Lafayette.  I'd really wanted my souvenir from Paris to be true French perfume, and I was hoping to find it at Fragonard, which has been making perfume in France since the 1920s (and has a perfume museum in the area as well).  I found a great scent and picked up a few gifts to bring to folks back home as well.

We continued our shopping fun back in the Marais, too, finding all kinds of fun treats for family and friends, and stocking up our own (portable) larder with meats, cheeses, fruit, and wine; we were planning a picnic the next night in MSM, and we wanted to ensure we had plenty of supplies.

Shopping on the Place des Vosges

A black cat - chat noir - napping in a shop window

We took our wares back to Les Tournelles and started the process of packing up for tomorrow's departure, all while getting ready to head out on the town for the evening!  Coming up next, a night at the Opera!

Later!

Amy