A Visit To Montmartre & Sacre Coeur

Saturday, March 31st, 2007 at1:18 pm by traveltripz

We are up bright and early in the morning and head off to the Montmarte district to see the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

Montmarte is a hill in north of Paris which is not only known for the white dome of Sacre Coeur but also it’s nightclubs, primarily Moulin Rouge.

The name Montmarte means ‘mountain of the martyr after St Denis, the Bishop of Paris and the patron saint of France, was decapitated on the hill in approx 250 AD.

Montmarte has always been known for its artists community and Dali, Monet and Picasso were some of the artists who had studios in the area.

The place actually looks quite dreary and dingy in the daylight and the Moulin Rouge obviously comes into it’s own at night because it looks very run down and seedy in the light of day.

After getting off the bus, we trudged up the narrow streets past all the tacky souvenir shops up to the base of the basilica. It pays to be fit as it is a steep climb up the hill, and there are a lot of steps up just to get up to the entrance of the basilica.

A quick look around inside and it is time to wend our way up the myriad of stairs that lead to the top of the basilica. Believe me when I say that the stairs go on and on, round and round and we think we are never going to reach the top but once we do get there and stop to catch our breath, we are so glad that we made the trek up all the many stairs to the top. The view over Paris is absolutely spectacular. And even though the weather is overcast and there is a bit of a drizzle, the sight back over the city to the Eiffel Tower is awesome.

This is one of the sights that you don’t want to miss.

The internal staircase winds around and around and you begin to wonder if you are ever going to reach the top. I remember making a a rather irreligious comment about fat friars chasing alter boys up these winding stairs believe me the boys would have been safe.