Sunday October 25, 2009
Paris, France
In Europe in general, you get used to climbing steps.....lots and lots of steps! We climbed these steps so that we could get to the Sacre Coeur (pronounced Sack-re Kur).
Here's looking back down the steps we climbed. They go down and to the left and down some more....and some more.
Our first up-close glimpse of the Basilique du Sacre Coeur, which in English means the Basilica of the Sacred Heart (of Jesus).
Built between 1875-1914, the
Sacre Coeur is located in an area of Paris known as
Montmartre, named after the hill on which the Basilica was built. Montmartre is translated to mean
Mountain of the Martyr, named so for the patron saint of France, Saint Denis, "
who was decapitated on the hill around 250 AD." The original architect was Paul Abadie who won a contest to earn the honor of designing the Sacre Coeur. He died shortly after construction began and as a result, five other architects were also involved with the project.
The area of Montmartre was home to the
art studios of Salvador Dali, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. It is also home to the famous cabaret,
Moulin Rouge. Although the area of Montmartre has become a
red-light district, the Sacre Coeur is a fixture in the community that stands on the hill as a symbol of hope.
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the church, but we could go inside and look around. Here's the doors leading into the vestibule just outside the main sanctuary. Along with not being able to take pictures inside, you were also not allowed to talk. Or whisper apparently. Shannon was rudely and loudly shushed by an attendant inside the church when she whispered something to me about the interior architecture.
This is the underside of the portico on the front of the building.
That's me at the Sacre Coeur!
And there's Shannon!
The Sacre Coeur sits at the highest point of the city, up on a hill and looks out over all of Paris.
It was such a beautiful view - you could literally see for miles.
One thing I love about the Eiffel Tower is you can see it from just about anywhere you are in the city, including the Sacre Coeur. It was a great point of reference for finding our way to things!
The Basilica is one happenin' place. Le Petit Train de Montmartre (The Little Train of Montmartre) pulled up for sightseeing tours.
There were people performing tricks right out in front of the Basilica (see the guy standing on several buckets in the middle of the crowd?).
Here's a closer picture of the trick-performing guy.
This lady was singing to the music of her accordion and selling things from her makeshift store.
This man was making key chains by wrapping fluffy pipe cleaners around small wire frames. He made little animals in all different colors and talked to the crowd through the microphone hanging around his neck.
I bought a few souvenirs while we were there, none of which included a fluffy animal key chain though.
