A Walk in Paris: Montmartre District #ParisInJuly2023

No, I am not taking holiday to France at the moment. I’m writing this post for #ParisInJuly2023 on my office’s computer, having arrived at the office 30 minutes earlier. But what about the walk in Paris, then? Do you know that a virtual walk in Paris exists? I have found this YouTube channel last year: A Walk in Paris. It's basically videos where a Parisian takes a walk around certain area (different route every time) of Paris. What I love about this channel is that the guy just walks and never talks; it feels like taking a stroll with a friend, agreeing that we’ll leave the other alone along the way. It enables me to be transported to Paris (albeit virtually), soaking up the atmosphere, the buzz, the scenes, snippets of conversations in French (and English) every now and then, while curling up in my bed, inside my air-conditioned bedroom on a hot July afternoon!

Last weekend I was taking a stroll around Montmartre in 18^th arrondissement. I loved this area - I remember walking up the hill alone on a beautiful morning, when I visited Paris 23 years ago. I was too early back then, the shops are still closed, but I could still feel the atmosphere, even today!

Our 1 hour 18 minutes walk is started from Moulin Rouge at Place Blanche. We took the Rue Lepic route to Place Anne Marie Carriere - I ❤ this picturesque place! Then we walked on Rue des Abesses, till we passed Êglise Saint Jean de Montmartre.

picture from: frenchmoments.eu

Next we arrived at a small garden, where I found a blue wall full of murals. It's Le Mur des Je t'aime! (Wall of Love). Apparently it "was created in 2000 by artists Fédéric Baron and Claire Kito and is composed of 612 tiles of enamelled lava, on which the phrase 'I love you' is featured 311 times in 250 languages" (Wikipedia). I wonder whether there's an Indonesian version, and what it looks like! A street musician with quite a decent voice is performing near there. We stopped for a few minutes to watch - I pictured myself throwing some coins; the music did cheered me up!

picture from: francebleu.fr

We got on through Rue la Vieuville, at the end of which we climbed a set of stairs, which brought us up - a bit panting - to Rue Drevet. After lingering for few minutes, we turned left to Rue Gabrielle. At the corner I saw a cafe with coffee-colored awning called Les Rendez-Vous des Amis - a proper name for a warm-looking cafe, non?

At the corner of Rue Ravignan we heard some noisy music, which came from a bar called Bar chez Camille. But along the narrow road, the voices faded to a silence, and I could even hear birds tweeting. Then I saw the first of the famous green Wallace Fountains I've ever seen! It really looks beautiful. If you're not familiar with these fountains, here's some interesting article for you. 

picture from: fabricofparis.com

Our next route is Rue de L'Abreuvoir. If you look up the roof top of the buildings, you'd see the top dome of Basilique du Sacré Coeur hovering in a distant! But don't stop for too long, because down the road you'll find a picturesque pink mansionette in the corner - aha! It must be the famous La Maison Rose, whose pictures I have seen so often on the internet, now I see it with my own eyes! - well, through a video, but still! I'm glad we spent quite a while here, admiring the gorgeous ancient building from every angle. Here's a little history of La Maison Rose.

picture from: afrenchcollection.com

Not far from there, at Rue de Saules, another colorful scenery came suddenly onto my sight. We have arrived at the Galerie d'Art Céramique, where you can buy, or just sight-see, handmade ceramic items with bright colors. Some of these ceramics are hung on the outside wall, providing quite an attraction in itself. I promised myself that if one day I should come to Paris again, I'd stop by this place - and I bet I won't leave it empty handed!

picture from: parisperfect.com

But we didn't buy anything this time :D. Continuing our walks, we passed another famous landmark: Le Consulat restaurant, which was, unfortunately, closed when we're passing there - not that we planned to eat anyway. Just around the corner, there's Place du Tertre. A small square, but crowded with cafes and tourists. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to admire the artists' paintings, as we must soon continue our walk along Rue du Chevalier de la Barre until we arrived at our last destination: Basilique du Sacré Coeur! Strangely, the nearer we were to the vicinity, the atmosphere began to change. There's a solemn hush that you usually feel around churches.

An artist painting - picture from: frenchmoments.eu

A wave of nostalgia burst inside my heart, as I could see myself twenty-three years ago at the same place. There on those steps I had met a couple of middle-aged respectable tourists who took my pictures using my camera (how I worried that they would run away with it, but no... my instinct told me they are nice people). All those memories came back to me, and as our walk ended, I asked myself: Will I ever come back to Paris some day? I don't know. I wish to, but for now, let me just take a (virtual) walk in Paris.

picture from: gpsmycity.com

C’est tout pour le moment, mes chers amis! Next weekend I’ll take another walk in Paris, but not sure to which area, I’ll tell you more on my next update. Until then… à bientôt!