Montmartre

Yesterday we went to Montmartre.

Story and more pictures below the cut.

We walked up the hill on the streets. This is a real neighborhood, though certainly one with plenty of tourists also doing what we were doing. And then you turn a corner and BAM the place is overrun with tourists, street artists, souvenir shops, and kitschy restaurants. (I know that kitschy is not a term typically applied to restaurants. But when you’re dressing your waiters up in berets, I think the term applies. The guidebook called the restaurants overpriced and bad. Honestly, the prices didn’t look unreasonable, but I’m willing to accept that they’re probably bad). But after getting past the tourist stronghold of the Place du Tertre, we made it up to the church of St. Pierre de Montmartre.

St. Pierre is the second oldest church in Paris after St. Germain des Prés, but it probably gets most of its visitors dues to its proximity to Sacré-Cœur. Here’s a view of the church.

Of course, for all that the church was consecrated in 1147, there have been some changes since then. The stained glass, for example, is all relatively recent.

St. Denis is one of the patron saints of Paris. When he was martyred, he carried his head for several miles before he finally died. Like many statues of St. Denis, this one shows him after his martyrdom. (Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, in the process of his martyrdom).

There is also a statue of Our Lady of Montmartre.

And a statue of St. Joan of Arc. This one is not actually labelled, because who else could it be?

There are two paintings right near each other. One of them is labelled (Ste.) Genevieve, who is the patroness of Paris. The other was unlabelled, but I thought perhaps St. Agnes, because she’s with a lamb. However, according to the church guide, it is also St. Genevieve.

Finally, there’s an old tombstone. According to the plaque, it belongs to Adelaide of Savoy, queen of France, wife of Louis VI. She founded the Benedictine Abbey of Montmartre in 1133, died in the abbey in 1154, and was buried in the church of St. Peter, which Pope Eugene III had consecrated in 1147.

Outside the church, there’s a small cemetery. The gate is closed 364 days a year.

After visiting St. Pierre, we visited Sacré-Cœur. Other than the picture at the top of this page, I don’t have any pictures.  Sacré-Cœur has signs in English and French asking people not to take pictures inside. If you want to see what it looks like, it’s easy to find images online.

After visiting the basilica, we spent some time outside admiring the view. Then we made our way down the hill and, changing focus completely, there was one more picture we had to get.