Our last day in Paris we moved from our little Saint Germain apartment to a hostel in delightful, hilly Montmarte. Let me just say that I am officially so over hostels. Done. I am way too old for them and infinitely too picky. Also, I like to take my sweet, uninterrupted, time in the morning.
Anyway.... Montmarte is a truly charming region of Paris. Far removed from the hustle bustle of the city centre, it appears to follow a much slower pace and seems more akin to the neighborhoods Mary and myself actually live in (but better, of course). I thought it was an area that friends of mine might like to live in.
We walked the steep streets, went to the APC outlet store and stopped in a tiny cafe for a coffee and croque monsieur served with salad all on a wooden cutting board. Pure delight.
The heart of Montmarte is the striking Sacre Coeur Basilica located on the summit of the butte Montmarte, the highest point in the city. Though Friday was rainy, windy & freezing, we wandered the short distance to the Basilica which (for some reason we couldn't figure out because we're dumb) everyone else in the world had decided to do as well. To avoid the crowds we chose to climb the hill along a side path rather than up the centre, it was a lovely walk and we had it all to ourselves. I loved the concrete steps marked and scored to look like logs.
Upon reaching the top of the path and looking back down the central steps it finally dawned on us that something was going on. The crowd was hundreds-strong and we got shooed off the top level before the Basilica itself by a church volunteer. Rather than go back down the way we came we stood on the steps to watch the events unfold and found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of the Stations of the Cross procession because !duh! it was good Friday and we were visiting a Catholic Basilica.
Boy. The Stations of the Cross. Here's how it went: sermon, sermon, sermon, pause, speak, everyone kneels and sings, pause, sermon, proceed up the hill, pause, repeat. Who knew there were 14 Stations of the Cross? Well, we sure do now - I still have the song they sang stuck in my head. Polite Canadian girls that we are, we froze to death for an hour and a half standing on the sidelines as it rained and the temperature hovered around +8. Good times.
Here's a funny thing about Paris - everyone who asked us where we were from immediately followed up with "oh, it must be very cold there right now" and everytime we were like "are you kidding? It's freezing HERE, whereas spring has already come and gone in Vancouver." How cold do they think it gets in Canada?
Despite my whining I'm really glad we had a chance to be there. It was a totally unique experience and something we certainly don't get to see everyday. And there were monks! and nuns! lots of them!
We finally made it to the actual Sacre Coeur later on and ducked inside when it started to rain. It's a beautiful building and I bought one of my favorite gifts of the trip - part 1 in a three-part comic book series detailing the life of Pope John Paul II: "Avec Jean-Paul". I couldn't resist. Popes, Nazis, Communists and kayaking? Yes please.
Upon reaching the top of the path and looking back down the central steps it finally dawned on us that something was going on. The crowd was hundreds-strong and we got shooed off the top level before the Basilica itself by a church volunteer. Rather than go back down the way we came we stood on the steps to watch the events unfold and found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of the Stations of the Cross procession because !duh! it was good Friday and we were visiting a Catholic Basilica.
Boy. The Stations of the Cross. Here's how it went: sermon, sermon, sermon, pause, speak, everyone kneels and sings, pause, sermon, proceed up the hill, pause, repeat. Who knew there were 14 Stations of the Cross? Well, we sure do now - I still have the song they sang stuck in my head. Polite Canadian girls that we are, we froze to death for an hour and a half standing on the sidelines as it rained and the temperature hovered around +8. Good times.
Here's a funny thing about Paris - everyone who asked us where we were from immediately followed up with "oh, it must be very cold there right now" and everytime we were like "are you kidding? It's freezing HERE, whereas spring has already come and gone in Vancouver." How cold do they think it gets in Canada?
Despite my whining I'm really glad we had a chance to be there. It was a totally unique experience and something we certainly don't get to see everyday. And there were monks! and nuns! lots of them!
We finally made it to the actual Sacre Coeur later on and ducked inside when it started to rain. It's a beautiful building and I bought one of my favorite gifts of the trip - part 1 in a three-part comic book series detailing the life of Pope John Paul II: "Avec Jean-Paul". I couldn't resist. Popes, Nazis, Communists and kayaking? Yes please.
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