Amelie cafe

During our exploration of Montmartre, we stopped at a bar for a drink late morning, with the obligatory toilet stop.  I spied a poster of Audrey Tatou in Amelie - one of my all time favorite movies.  So, photo opportunity taken, we moved on with the intention of stopping in at the cafe used as a set in the movie Amelie.  Number 15 Rue Lepic is a famous Art Deco Cafe.  While we had a look inside, it was obviously too full to sit and enjoy the atmosphere, so I took a photo and we kept going.

21.10.2012

Artistic interpretation

We too were approached by a street artist, not in Place du Tetre, but in one of the many side streets.  He was wanting to draw our portrait, and when I asked to see a sample of his work he did the sell, promising that if we didn't like our portrait we didn't have to pay. So, we settled in at a sidewalk cafe, with tea and coffee and chatted while he drew.  It is quite an unnerving experience having someone stare at you so intently.  The banter flowed freely, we talked about travel, the history of Montmartre and art.  It was fun.  We also talked a lot about the beautiful young woman (me) and the man with a face filled with character (Frank).  It was all part of the sales ploy, but still charming.  The sketch looked nothing like us, but as a study of a couple al la Parisienne it was cute, and yes we bought it. 20.10.2012

Place du Tetre

Place du Tetre is where we headed next.  This is the square where local artists come to sell their wares to the ever present tourists.  Some artists, have works they have done previously for sale (or perhaps someone else has done them), others have paints on hand to convince you they are legitimate, yet others actually work on a piece while you watch.   Some artists paint street scenes of Paris, most badly.  Others cut silhouette portraits while you wait, yet others will produce a caricature or portrait on demand.   There is a lot of crap, with an occasional treasure within.  One guy we stopped to watch was doing pastel portraits.  He was good.  Another did caricatures.  He too was good, capturing the essence of a man in a few simple strokes of his pen.  Amazing. 20.10.2012

Montmartre

From the top of the hill, the view of Paris should have been spectacular.  With the mist however visibility was limited.  It was eerie, but still quite beautiful. Needless to say I still took photographs. Montmartre was busy, even on a Sunday.  It seemed almost that Parisienne's do their fresh fruit and meat shopping on a Sunday.  The markets, fresh produce shops and streets generally were teeming with people.  Not just tourists, but trendy young things and families too.  I very much enjoyed looking at the different meats, sausages, pheasants wrapped with some feathers still, ready to be served to a Parisienne household for dejeuner.  The cheeses and seafood are something else too, with more variety than we would ever get at home.  Prices for seafood were much cheaper too which I couldn't understand given our production in Australia.  As for the vegetables, they are the thing I am most familiar with so if living here long term am happy I would not starve.  Certainly the fresh produce makes for a colorful street scene. 21.10.2012

Sacre Coeur

With the rain holding, but a mist settling in, we decided we would brave it and explore the Montmartre area.  With a history steeped in the early development of the arts in Paris it was always going to be a place I was interested in looking at.  An artist we spoke to said that it was the light that makes the difference and which is what attracts artists to the area. We caught a taxi up to Sacre Coeur working on the theory that with the church high on the hill, we could then meander our way down the "butte" and make an easier walk of it. Sacre Coeur was well worth a visit for this mosaic lover.  While photos were not allowed, there was a guide book available which has a lot of the works reproduced in it.  The reproductions were much better quality than the post cards available, so at €5 it was a good purchase. The church has a large number of mosaics within it, including the interior of the main dome.  One of largest mosaics I have seen it really is spectacular.  With the mosaic created in the 1900's there is a lot known about the artists which is quite unusual. The church itself came about because two French business men made a promise that if France survived the Franco Prussian war, they would build a church to show their thanks.  They kept that promise, and Sacre Coeur is the result. 21.10.2012