The “deux comme ca” we had were about a half inch in diameter, and an inch high. It looked syrupy and sweet. To our surprise, they were not overly sweet, and quite chewy with a hint of cinnamon.
With our pastry fix done, we headed off to Montmartre. Montmartre used to be a separate city walled off from Paris. It was a mining town where gypsum was mined (plaster of Paris fame) with an ancient vineyard. Wine was taxed in Paris at the time, and thus the wall, with taxes collected for anything that crossed into Paris. When the wall did come down, the first boulevard was created. The word boulevard is French derived from the Dutch word bolwark meaning bastion.
Climbing up the stairs gives great views of the skyscape of Paris behind us, while Sacre Coeur looms high above. Sacre Coeur is a relatively new church, built just over a century ago. It was built as an act of penance for the presumed sins that they must have committed. How else could they explain how the glorious French Empire ushered in by Napoleon be so humiliated just over a generation later by the Prussians. To this day, there is always at least one person praying day and night, 365 days a year asking for forgiveness.
The Church itself is lovely and worth a visit. While classic, the interiour is not overly garnished, giving a clean and welcoming feeling. This coming Sunday a relic of St. John Paul II will be brought here.
Right next to the Sacre Coeur is the much older Church of St. Pierre de Montmartre. It is actually one of the oldest in Paris. The Church was founded by King Louis VI and his wife Adelaide. Her tombstone can be found on the left side wall inside the church. Adelaide also went on to found the sprawling abbey of Benedictine monks and nuns. She also planted the nearby vineyard which now hold some of the oldest vines. The Abbey and vineyard was the original claim to fame for Montmartre.
The story goes that a bishop, soon to be St. Denis, was going to be executed by the Romans for preaching Christianity. On the way up the hill, the soldiers got tired, and decided to chop off his head early. St. Dennis picked up his head and carried on up the hill where he finally died.
Montmartre, or Mont of Martyrs is really Mont of Mars from Roman times. Within the Church of St. Pierre de Montmartre you can see four of the original columns from the Temple of Mars.
While both churches are worth a visit, the real beauty of Montmartre is the winding little streets of this town. Do take your time to walk up and down a few streets, giving lovely views one after the other.
This is where Edith Piaf was discovered, where Renoir painted Bal de Moulin de la Galette (visit the link and you will recognize the painting). Picasso and van Gogh were here, and of course Toulouse-Lautrec was just down the block, along with a host of others.
Not too far is the Lapin Agile Cabaret, where they would all congregate, drink, listens to poetry and discuss whatever struck their fancy. One night, they tied a paint brush on a donkey’s tail, and called the painting Sunset Over The Adriatic (Again follow our link to view the painting.)
They entered it as an abstract painting at the Salon. Of course the academics who were still red faced for missing the boat with “Impressionism,” gave the donkey’s painting critical acclaim and it sold for a good amount. I wonder how they felt when the finally did meet the artist.
The French word “bistro” was coined here too. Apparently when Russian soldiers were here, they rushed the waiters shouting out “bystro” which means quickly.
For those who enjoyed the film “Amelie,” she worked at the Cafe des Deux Moulins as you walk down the street towards the world famous, Le Moulin Rouge. (I would suggest watching both the film “Amelie” as well as Nicole Kidman’s “Le Moulin Rouge” as they will give you two different, but satisfying impressions of the neighborhood.)
Walking along Boulevard de Clichy to the Pigalle is a bit seedy, but worth the stroll to get a different feel. It has been cleaned up a bit, but not sanitized as New York’s Times Square. We walked a bit past the Pigalle, and headed down the colorful market street of rue des Martyrs.
I had thought we would stop somewhere here to eat, but while the shops were a delight, there were not many places to eat. So we ended up eating at a Restaurant on the corner with Boulevard Haussmann. Hera again had a delicious steak tartare while I had the Magret de Canard (Duck breast) served with a pepper sauce which was good but I felt overpowered the duck.
Boulevard Haussmann is a lovely place to stroll, although the name keeps changing every few blocks. One delightful discovery this time was the glass covered passageway Jouffroy to the north, and the passageway Panorama to the South. Exploring the passageways and its shops, we retraced our steps back onto the Boulevard and continued East towards home.
We took St. Denis south, and while a bit seedy at first, with older working girls manning the corners. A bit further down the ways, and the street starts to get more gentrified, but remnants of its past can be seen in some of the boutiques that still exist.
Soon the Pompidou could be seen, meaning we were getting close to home.
