Visiting Montmartre in Paris (France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
I went to the Montmartre neighborhood in Paris one weekend day. Montmartre used to be a small village outside of Paris that became part of the city as Paris experienced exponential growth in the 19th century.
I
took my baguette sandwich of Laughing Cow cheese and ham with me and a bottle
of water to visit the famous Parisian Montmartre butte with a big, white shrine
on top of it called Sacre Coeur.
I
began my visit by walking along avenue Rochouart with all the throngs of people
examining the latest deal offered by the Tati Clothing Empire located on the
street.
I
turned onto Avenue Steinkerque and followed rue d’Orsel to the rue des Trois Frères
and onto Place des Abesses.
Montmartre
is the spot where the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church was created on August
15, 1554 by Saint François Xavier along with six other men, who vowed to become
apostles of the Catholic Church overseas.
The
first time I saw the name François Xavier was in the city of Hirado on the southern
island of Kyushu in Japan.
(I
lived in Japan as an exchange student with the Youth for Understanding
International Exchange program in high school.)
From
place des Abesses, I followed rue Ravignac up the side of the “butte” or
“hill.” I marveled just like a tourist
at a mecca of modern painting called the Bâteau Lavoir.
Some
of this apartment building’s artistic inhabitants included Picasso, Juan Gris,
Modigliani, and Braques. Picasso painted
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon at the Bâteau
Lavoir.
I
climbed up some more charming streets oblivious to the grade. When I arrived at the Place du Tertre, the
artists were doing brisk trade in night scenes at this spot.
I
made a quick visit inside Saint Pierre de Montmartre. The church used to be part of a huge abbey
that sat on top of the butte. Saint
Pierre along with Saint Germain des Près and Saint Martin des Champs are the
oldest churches in Paris. The abbey was
closed during the French Revolution.
Saint
Martin des Champs was begun in 1134 on the site of an earlier Merovingian
Church. The builders recycled a few
columns from pre-Christian times in the building of this Church.
The
French have lived by the “waste not, want not, but avoid rotten food” motto for
centuries.
I
avoided the tourists at Place du Tertre and took rue Rustique down the hill. I passed the Montmartre Vineyards on my way
down. The wine is not supposed to be
good, but the citizens of the quarter could just be saying that and squirreling
it away for themselves.
I
passed number 54 on rue Lépic where Vincent van Gogh lived with his brother
Theo for a time. Little country homes
abound in Montmartre, because it used to be a village. I thought it would be fun to work in La Défense
and come home to my country house by Place du Tertre at night when I walked there.
I
spent an hour touring the Montmartre Cemetery.
I saw the tombs of Stendahl, Zola, Berlioz, Fragonard, Alexandre Dumas
(the son), and Degas. I felt as if I had
rendered homage to the greatest French artists of all time in this cemetery.
My
favorite French writer is still Stendahl, who wrote The Red and the Black.
After
my tour, I took the Métro over to the Latin Quarter and had my hair fixed to
look cute in Paris.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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