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Saturday, June 07, 2014

Day 2 continues



Still Day 2......After a fine lunch on the Montmarte (Salade Nicoise- the French make great salads, more on that later) we continued the LA tour which involves- no surprise- looking at public spaces, plants, and trees (and strange people). After descending some really steep streets and stairs from the Montmarte.........


 
we came to Square Jehan Rictus which is famous for the "love wall" which translates "I love you" into many of the world's languages. Jehan Rictus is just one of hundreds of parks scattered about Paris.



Did I mention steep stairs?
 












After the LA students dispersed, Leslie and I went back up the hill and chanced upon the Church of Saint Peter of Montmarte which is close to Sacre Coeur but separated by hundreds of years. Purportedly founded by St. Denis (the same headless dude) the building was partially destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 19th century.


Fun Fact: 4 Roman column capitals can be seen in the nave. Either these were part of the church dating back to late Roman empire or were incorporated later into the building........to this day there is all kinds of antiquity laying around that the locals can use, "Hey Pierre, grab that Roman Corinthian column capital and drag it over here"


Finally, heading back down the hill (after a 3rd trip up the hill to Sacre Coeur to retrieve a bag I had left in the WC, which is overseen by 2 African ladies who had a good laugh), we started for the apartment, but not until we went down the Street of Textiles!



Friday, June 06, 2014

DAY 2- Tuesday June 3rd

Survived Day 1, no hangover or noticeable jet-lag. On to the first field trip at Sacre Coeur:

The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur is recent, erected at the end of the 19th century, and dominates the highest point in Paris, Montmarte- literally Mount of Martyrs. It is a "national penance for the excesses of the Second Empire and an embodiment of conservative moral order"; in other words another big church that cost a lot of money and gets the citizens excited. The history of Montmarte goes back a ways, to Roman times for sure. The main dude martyr was Saint Denis the Bishop of Paris who was be-headed (by the Romans I suppose) around 250 AD. The best part- Denis is said to have picked his head up after being decapitated, walking for six miles, and preaching a sermon the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores. Look it up!
Sacre Coeur (on the right), bicycle cops in the foreground, after running off all the immigrant vendors selling water and little tiny Sacre Coeurs and Eiffel towers and such. 


There are immigrants all over Paris- a group of guys approached us as we first started up the ascent to Sacre Coeur- twisted little bracelets out of colored thread for us (donation!). I talked to one guy from Kenya whose english was very good- he learned it in Kenya.

Had lunch in nearby "artist market", a very dense area of shops, cafes, artists, tourists.....
 
 more Day 2 soon, and its only Day 5!