Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, PARIS, FRANCE

Montmartre. At this high-point of Paris, stairs and artists are many. In the Place du Tertre (above), art is created and sold. Nearby is the red-light district known for its rock music venues and the Moulin Rouge (our cab passed through on the way to Montmartre for dinner). Artists including Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and Dali all lived and worked among Montmartre’s network of narrow streets.  Our time in Montmartre spanned late afternoon through early evening—affording us a feel of the area as the sky was graying and the artists made last pushes for sales.  On into the evening, with blue holiday bulbs strung around the square and the lights of Paris spread out like a carpet below. 

Sacré-Coeur (in Montmartre). This Romanesque-Byzantine basilica offers one of the most beautiful panoramic views of Paris, and its domes can be sighted from just about anywhere in the city below. Its ceiling has the largest mosaic in France and its dome houses one of the largest free-swinging bells (19 tons, or the equivalent of roughly 19 polar bears). It’s also a self-cleaning church—built of travertine, it constantly exudes calcite, which keeps the basilica white even with weathering and pollution.