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May 2025 (Part 27)

France Trip: Day 12: Montmarte

After the Musee d'Orsay, we took an Uber up to Montmarte.  This high hill on the right bank provides a commanding view of most of Paris, making it a popular tourist spot (and a known risk for pick-pockets).  It's summit is the site of an imposing basilica, and the surrounding area has long been known as a favorite for artists along with illicit or unsavory businesses.  It was just outside the city limits of Paris until the 1860s, when it was annexed and became part of the 18th arrondissement of Paris.  Because it was outside the city limits, it was the s site of several brothels and pubs.  During the Belle Époque (beautiful era) from 1872 to 1914, due to the low rents and the congenial atmosphere, many artists lived, worked, or had studios in or around Montmartre, including Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Suzanne Valadon, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh.

On our way, we passed through Place de la Concorde and a view of the Luxor Obelisk.  We then arrived the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre (Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre).  The basilica was first proposed by Felix Fournier, the Bishop of Nantes, in 1870 after the defeat of France and the capture of Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War. He attributed the defeat of France to the moral decline of the country since the French Revolution, and proposed a new Parisian church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The edifice was proposed before the outbreak of the Paris Commune uprising but since it was constructed at the highest point of the city, overlooking the site of the outbreak of the Commune and the rest of the city, it has remained controversial with politicians of the French left, for whom it symbolizes the repression of the Communards.

Some wonderful gilded decorations inside.

There was a music concert being held on the steps on the hill outside.

After dinner while Alexa asked for some time to sketch, we wound up wandering back near the basilica and took a couple more images.

We had dinner in a nearby square, the Place de Terte (place of the mound), which had several restaurants around the outside which each had additional seating under awnings in the center of the square.  There were several portraits artists with their easels around the square.

During our dinner, Alexa sketched this portrait artist whose easel was just on the other side of the fence.

We stumbled on Le mur des je t'aime (The wall of I love you), an artwork bearing the words 'I love you' in multiple languages which is also a popular meeting place.