Bohemia, Bohemia...

Yesterday I went with my friend Jann to Montmartre, which is quite possibly my favorite part of Paris. However, the Saint-Michel/Notre Dame area is a close second. The reason I love Montmartre is because of its history of Bohemian artists and the lingering presence of what once was. The artists still gather in Place de Tertre offering to sketch your portrait. (One stopped me yesterday and asked me if I spoke Italian or Spanish...) Places of interest in Montmartre include: the Sacré-Coeur (my favorite cathedral in Paris), the Musée de Montmartre (which we visited yesterday), Espace Dali (the Salvador Dali museum, which is one of my favorites), the Moulin de la Galette (see picture later in post), and the many eclectic shops and cafés that the butte of Montmartre has to offer. Here are a few highlights from our cold, but beautifully sunny day in Paris.

There are approximately 300 steps to reach the butte of Montmartre...(one can take the funiculaire to the top, but part of the experience is climbing the 300 steps...)



The Moulin de la Galette was originally used to produce flour, but became a cabaret in 1830. It is now private property and was almost destroyed in 1915, but was fortunately preserved. Renoir's "Bal du Moulin de la Galette" is based upon this structure.



The Musée de Montmartre was my favorite part of the day. It contained paintings depicting the history of the butte and original signs and posters, which once lined the streets advertising cabarets such as the famous Moulin Rouge. It was a dream come true to see original Toulouse Lautrec art. I also saw one of Jane Avril's dresses. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside the museum.



Here are some of the famous original posters that I saw:




This picture is just for French III...a mime at the Sacré-Coeur...



Finally, the "Amy is clumsy" story of the week: I was walking along chatting nonstop with Jann and did not notice a street post in front of me. Hence, I tripped quite noticably over the post and Jann was like "Are you okay??!!" and I said "Yeah. I do stuff like that all the time" and continued with my story. Apparently, flat shoes do not assist me as much as I had once imagined.

Bon courage, mes enfants ! À plus !