So on this, our last full day in Paris, we thought we`d do something different and see a church. Montparnasse is a large hill overlooking Paris that is topped off with the city’s oldest church. It’s immense and ornate and probably the best kept in Paris. We take a tour of the area, on a mini tourist train, and go up and down the streets of Montmartre and learn about all the writers and poets who lived or partied here. Here too the security presence is very visible.
Just beyond the church are the souvenir shops and bistros that are everywhere in Paris and where miniature Eiffel Towers abound. The only difference seems to be the number of “artists” who wander about offering to do quick portraits of you and the little ones as you walk. In China we called them “mosquitoes”. There is also a plaque here commemorating the first motor car driven her by Mr. Renaud, ushering in the motor age in 1898.
Nearby, just before the red light district and le Moulin Rouge, is Montmartre cemetery. A map shows where everyone is laid to rest and the tombs are old, mostly abandoned by time but some are poignant odes to sacrifices made or loved one remembered. One is dedicated to a young man who “upheld the law”, he is shown dying, holding a tablet that says “the law”. At the entrance, artists are gathered, perhaps as part of an art class, sketching tombs.
On our way to the metro, we pass by the Moulin Rouge and the red light district. We walk quickly to avoid answering awkward questions. We take the metro back to Champs Elysées trying to see, once more, the Arc de Triomphe. We take the underground walkway but only end up on the other side of the road. I guess you have to pay to actually walk around the monument. We are too tuckered out to try it again so end up walking down the Champs and reward ourselves with ice cream.