Paris - Sacré Coeur - 18e

Plate XCIV – Basilica Sacre Couer de Montmartre II …

As with the other two major Parisian landmarks mentioned yesterday (the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe of course) the views of Paris from the top of the central dome of the Basilica are magnificent. Access (tickets needed) is only via the long interior staircase, so if you find yourself easily exhausted perhaps you should save some energy by arriving at the footsteps of the church at the crest of the butte, by using the funicular carriages that ascend alongside the terraced stairs provided for the more energetic or younger traveller.

Formally dedicated to the lives lost during the Franco-Prussian War, the connection to the communards whose insurrectional movement started in Montmartre has not been forgotten by many. Sacré Coeur is a Roman Catholic church devoted to the Sacred Heart of Christ. Displayed in a monstrance above the high altar is an artefact known as the Blessed Sacrament, ensuring that Sacre Coeur has remained an important centre of Catholicism since 1885. The Christ in Majesty mosaic inside the apse must also not be missed.

The south facing portico is flanked by bronze equestrian statues of St Louis (King Louis IX) (pictured) and Joan of Arc. Chief architect Abadie had died in 1884 and ongoing design work was continued by five later successors. Funded entirely by private donations the basilica is estimated to have cost some several million French francs. I found it hard to leave this site and, while living in the same century the basilica’s construction, could not help wondering if we’ll ever see such magnificence created by man in devotion to his God again. It just does not seem likely.

Paris - Basilique du Sacré Coeur - 18e

 Plate XCIII – Basilica Sacre Couer de Montmartre …

If asked to name the top three icons of Parisian landmarks, Sacré Coeur must surely take its rightful place alongside Eiffel’s tower and the Napoleonic Arc de Triomphe. Dominating the Butte Montmartre and completely overshadowing the neighbouring stone church of St Pierre, often claimed to be the oldest church in Paris, is arguably the newest significant church of the city. To some, it may seem unusual to describe Sacré Coeur as new, for such is it’s dominance of every familiar view of Paris’ northern skyline that the visitor can be forgiven for thinking it has always been there. The truth is it was constructed between the laying of the foundation stone in 1875 and its final consecration in 1919. The stone used in construction of the Basilica is a lime travertine from the Seine-et-Marne region of France, and its perpetual gleaming whiteness is thanks to the stone’s property of continually exuding a form of calcite. Almost Oriental in appearance the architectural style of Sacré Coeur is best described as Romanesque Byzantine, and is mainly ascribed to architect Paul Abadie, whose design was (once again) the winner of an open public architectural competition. The impressive tall tower at the rear of the church contains a 19 ton cast bell named Savoyard, one of the largest in the world. The beautiful gardens surrounding the church are today a popular retreat for both residents and visitors, and access into the church is via an imposing grand staircase leading to the front portico featuring three entrance arches. 

Paris - Boulevard Clichy - 18e

Plate LXXXVI - Boulevard de Clichy …

If you’re not here on ‘business’, the safest way for the curious, pedestrian tourist to walk along Boulevard de Clichy is to take the middle island in preference to the side pavements. Of course if you are there on business, and knowing the emporia of the area include such names as Love Theatre, Pigalle’s Peep Show or simply Sex Shop, you probably won’t want to do this. This is the red-light district of Paris so you then also won’t mind the continuous approaches of the pimps or mecs who ply their trade along the Boulevard - seemingly for twenty four hours a day. It started off as entertaining, but the persistence of some can start to seem annoying and then even threatening; but it does seem an unwritten code that they, with their promises of showing you a very good time, do not bother strollers taking that sacred middle ground. Of course this choice of path precludes any ‘window shopping’, and the often fading pictures of some of the performances on offer promise delivery of exactly what you’d go shopping for along certain stretches of the Boulevard. Nudge, nudge – wink, wink!

Such was my introduction to what I venture is the essential Paris - Pigalle and Montmartre. If anyone with only an hour in the city asked me where they simply had to go, this would be it. Forget the Louvre (it needs days) or the Eiffel Tower (you’ll see it from here anyway) and you’ll almost certainly pass the Arc de Triomphe en route. Montmartre is the Paris of Piaf, Degas, Lautrec, Renoir, Utrillo, Daumier, van Gogh, and Picasso, the Moulin Rouge, Au Lapin Agile and many cabarets, the Sacré Coeur and the Place du Tertre.

And of sex.