Day 1: Paris
We arrived in the City of Light on a cold, drizzly, dreary day. Where is Spring- it’s May 11th? Checked into our stylish hotel, Terrass, http://www.terrass-hotel.com/ on the hill in the village of Montmartre, picked up a croissant and walked to Sacre-Coeur – Sacred Heart Basilica that looked like a giant white castle in the sky. Climbed about 300 circular steps to get this view.
Montmartre is a great place to stay. There are three different metro stations in walking distance. Note: sometimes a metro station will not sell tickets, but only accept them. This is rare. Montmartre has a feel of a gentrifying area with new younger singles and couples moving in as the seniors move out or pass on. There are a lot of restaurants for those who may not cook or tourist staying at a hotel on plentiful AirBnB etc places. On a given corner in Montmartre, you may find yourself facing a morning choice of which bakery to grab some nourishment from. There are also several butcher shoppes and trendy clothing stores.
Additionally in this area is the location of the original Moulin Rouge which seems to glow at night even today.
Back to the topic of the Sacre-Coeur, since Montmartre area is a highpoint in the city of Paris, you will be able to view the Basilica from most of the major sites of Paris. It is good to know where you are staying. Once in Montmartre, you can walk up to its location via the original streets or merely take the metro and then grab the funicular / incline and save you a hundred steps, more or less. If you are walking the streets, you will hit one near the Basilica were there are many “artists” that potentially chase you in the street for the opportunity to draw your caricature for a few.
You can enter the wonderful Basilica for free, but if you want to use the stairs for the grand view of the city, reach into your pocket for a couple of euro and hit those steps. It is worth the climb.
One of the largest mosaics of its kind in the world is “Christ in Majesty.” The illuminance of the tile work is remarkable as lit by the basilica’s accent lights. One person hopefully remarked that golden chest in the foreground of the image is the Lost Ark as in Raiders of the Lost Ark; it is not.
Several beautiful sculptures of stone and metal of the likes of the Jesus, Virgin Mary and JoAnn of Arc are also located inside the basilica.
Dinner at Les Tantes Jeanne just a few blocks from the hotel is a treat ( http://www.lestantesjeanne.fr/#_=_ ). Most locals eat late, so if you go to a restaurant at 7pm, you may be the only one there for an hour-ish. The food here is yummy.
The meal was amazing. Lisa had panfried crayfish with timut pepper, black sesame cream and a beansprout nest plus a Borchii salad from Ile de France.. Douglas had the wild artichoke from Brittany with black ginger ravioli in a lemongrass broth with rack of suckling, baby lamb- not politically correct but still delicious. We had the best French bread we’ve ever had at this restaurant so we asked if it was baked in house and they said all of their bread was from ‘Alexsine’ in the village.
