Our last full day in Paris, we went for a walk around Montmartre, one of the last neighborhoods to be incorporated into Paris. It was the place where a lot of the fighting happened during The Paris Commune.
Some people claim that the government built the Sacre Coeur – this white church – after the Commune fell as a way to make it up to the neighborhood. The government never said that, but let’s just say that the timing is suspicious.
The hill that Sacre Cœur is on is the highest point in Paris, which is why it was one of the last places in the city to fall back to the federal government. Today, it’s got lovely views and big trees.
There is an ancient church next door to the Sacre Cœur, the original neighborhood church of St Pierre. It was built in the 1200s – and these columns are supposedly from the Roman Temple that once stood on the site.
St Denis was beheaded by the Romans for being Catholic partway up the Montmartre hill and then performed the miracle of picking up his head and walking for another three miles. (The Basilica of Saint-Denis was built where he finally collapsed and is the burial place of most French kings.)
Baron Hausmann, who is responsible for the way that most of the inner arrondissements look in Paris, never worked his magic in Montmartre, so the neighborhood looks very different.
This pink building was apparently a decent restaurant back in the 1930s. Now, however, it’s mostly known for being very instagrammable.
There is one remaining vineyard in Paris, and this is it!
Hiding behind the trees is one of the two remaining windmills in Paris – this neighborhood used to be full of them. This one is apparently attached to a decent restaurant; the other is the Moulin Rouge.
It was a lovely walk up and down the hill. There are a LOT of stairs at the métro stop nearest Sacre Cœur. The rest was mostly downhill, with some up thrown in for fun. This was a lovely walk, and there are plenty of delicious places to grab lunch.