Sacreblue, it's the Sacré–Coeur!

The Sacre Coeur!
(Sunday)

We were off to Montmartre on Sunday, to see the Sacre Coeur. The steps leading up the hill to the cathedral are impressive, with plenty of room for people to park at different levels and set up shop. The street hawkers with their connecting letters on wheels, and their little eiffel towers, are stationed at various rest points up the hill, the carousel draws its own crowd at the bottom of the hill, the harpist sits near the top, and many, many tourists and visitor trek continuously up and down the hill. The market along the left hand side of the cathedral may have explained some of the numbers who climbed up the long set of stairs or rode the tram to the top.

Lulu and Yaya in front of the Sacre Coeur

It's a long way to the top.

Yaya is wasting no time.

Inside the cathedral, the Sunday service continued while tourists walked around the perimeters, attempting to be 'quiet'. Like most cathedrals in Paris, the Sacre Coeur featured great large wooden doors and incredible architecture. The first painting featured (to the side of the doors) as you enter the cathedral was one depicting the story of Saint Denis the beheaded. Gruesome, but I suppose religion likes that sort of thing?

I was very impressed by the vaulting arches and the huge angels carved into the ring below the center dome of the cathedral. There were many small details to notice–I particularly liked the little fish carved into the holy water bowl. Ultimately however, the seriousness of the people and the atmosphere of the interior were somewhat undermined for me by the persistent thought that it would be really fun to bungee jump under the domes. The coin presses for souvenirs may also have contributed to my flippant thoughts... they were just a little out of tune with the whole medieval vibe.

At the back of the cathedral, there was a giant mural of Jesus, his worshipers, and Joan of Arc. Surprisingly to me, it also included some more 'ethnic' people: one each of native american, african, and Japanese representations. The majority of those depicted were european, and each of the ethnic groups depicted were in traditional garb. I don't know enough about the mural or the time in which it was painted to make a fair sociological analysis of this kind of depiction, but it wasn't one I have seen often in Europe.

Joan of Arc turned out to be a big thing in this cathedral, along with the image of the sacred heart (whose, I'm not sure). Joan's story was depicted in stained glass by the door, so those who might lack literacy could see it illustrated (a common strategy in the religious repertoire historically and one which might be usefully employed to get through to certain supporters of the Trump campaign).

Larry & Helene noted that Joan and Mary Magdalen kept appearing in their observations as thematic of the suppressed element of important and strong females in religious history and history in general. In this trip, they kept recognizing church suppression of the concept or theme of female significance, power, and balance. They noted this suppression was largely carried out through the manipulation of their images, and has subsequently shaped how the western world thinks. One example of this in modern terms is the imbalance in recognition of female scientists who made major contributions to their fields. Pointing out female scientists of this caliber who are household names is a difficult exercise for most people, and even more difficult if you restrict this category to female scientists who are still living. These themes drew my attention back to Marie Curie: a modern example of influence and of a cultivated image that empowered women of her era and beyond.

After looking around inside the cathedral, we walked around the outside to get all the way up to the dome on top of the Montmartre. We traversed ~300 steps up and ~327 steps down in a very narrow spiral staircase that would have been an effective form of castle defense–fighting up it would have been very difficult. We passed several gargoyles on the dome–how can you experience Paris without gargoyles?

Gargoyles watch the market.

I now have a somewhat better sense of the geography of Paris on this trip compared to the last. Once we emerged from the stairwell, I could hear the harp at the top of the steps, and the noises of the market... I could see the activity buzzing around the base of the cathedral and out across the city to familiar landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower. This angle turned out to be an effective way to scout for new areas to explore! I spotted another market square a few streets over from the cathedral and saw a wonderful opportunity to hunt down some street art.

The Eiffel Tower

The cathedral's bell tower.

Lulu and Yaya appreciating the layout of Paris.

Once back at ground level, we wandered through the street market alongside the cathedral on our way

to the hidden alcove I had spotted. There was so much cheese and meat on sale!

The place I had spotted turned out to be a square absolutely full of artists selling paintings and doing portraits! There were rows and rows of them, configured in such a way as to give tourists room to browse and to encourage them to stop in the shops and restaurants that made up the four walls of the square. I was so excited to find this art–I wanted so badly to purchase some street art to take home with me. I found an artist whose work I adored: his pen drawings are colored in with the most exquisite water colors; vibrant blues and oranges and yellows... just my favorite color palette.

We hit the jackpot of street artists!

I love this art.

Larry & Helene decided to commission my portrait as a birthday present for dad in july. The man who drew it was an interesting dude... he seemed the caricature of a grizzled Parisian artist. he was native to Paris, but spoke english quite well and had spent time traveling all up an down California.

After we finished the portrait, it started to sprinkle, and we went inside a café tucked away around the corner. The restaurant was playing American music inside (Carol King I think), and this lead our neighbors to strike up a conversation with us. I didn't get their names, but we did learn they were from West Marin! They didn't recognize dad's name, but likely that was because they had just moved there a few years ago; I believe the woman grew up in Marshall.

We lingered as long as possible because it had (inevitably started to rain heavily), complete with some thunder and lighting...I was half expecting hail with my luck in weather this trip. We saw this meteorological development as a wonderful excuse to have a chocolate crepe for dessert :)

A steep and rainy decent back down the hill.

When the downpour looked a little less dire, we made our way back to the Metro to go find the Louis Vuitton Foundation's new museum.

Who needs museums when you find street graffiti like this?

Next up: The Louis Vuitton Museum!