We take a metro to Pigalle station on the 17th arr. and follow the Frommer’s walking guide. We walk past Bateau-Lavoir (Boat Washhouse) where Picasso lived between 1904-12); Espace Dali Montmartre, a Salvadori Dali museum and Place du Tertre, the old town square where artists abound the area.Today coincides with the Fete du Perigord (food and produce from the Perigod region) and there are stalls all around Sacre-Coeur selling sausages, olive oil, fresh strawberries and pastries etc around the region of France. The precinct is absolutely packed. We have never seen crowds like this here.We enter Sacre Coeur to hear the nuns singing the Office at midday (along with thousands of other tourists) and Winnie takes a picture but when Philip tries the same, he is ushered out of the church along with other people who try to do the same. This is a first for Philip. All his life people have been trying to get him into church and now they are throwing him out.
This must be the only church in Paris that does not permit photography. We realize later that there are signs outside the church indicating photographs forbidden, however, the crowds entering obscure them.We proceed to walk down the hill and see where van Gogh lived in 1886 at 54 rue Lepic. We lunch at a nearby brasserie.
We pass the famous Cimetiere de Montmartre where Degas, Truffaut and Nijinksy etc were buried; Moulin Rouge with the famous windmill and Boulevard de Clichy, the sleazy area with sex joints before heading back to Pigalle station where Edith Piaf used to sing in nearby alleyways during the period of WWII.
It turns out that Sacre Coeur is not the church Winnie wanted to see and after some discussion we work out it is Notre Dame. So we catch the Metro to Ile de Cité. Similarly packed with people as there is a Féte du Pain on in the forecourt. Notre Dame has become the tourist centre of Paris and is always very busy these days. We visit the Cathedral with no problems with the photography.Dinner at La Billebaude (not far from home) which is recommended by Philip’s barber (a rich source of information as we all know). A small bistro but the food is really delicious.
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