Montmartre, a walk through history

 Today was a 22,000+ step day.  We met our tour guide this morning and she spent the next 4 hours walking us through the history of Montmartre.  We met her at the Moulin Rouge and finished at the Basilica of the Sacre-Couer.(built in the 11th century)  Montmartre is a large hill in tne northern part of Paris and is known for its artistic history and credit is given for the creation of the modern can-can dance. While on this tour we learned about the creation of the French chocolates and pastries.  This lesson was reinforced by visits to various bakery shops where we enjoyed samples of chocolates, eclaires, croissants, macarones, and French Madelines. We needed to walk 20,000 steps after this tour.

When the tour ended we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  Construction of the Cathedral bagan in 1163 and was completed in 1260.  It is widely recognized as the symbol of both Paris and the French nation.  Linda an I toured Notre Dame in 2018, along with my brother and sister in law, Larry and Pat. The next year a tremendous fire almost destroyed the church.  After years of restoration it was reopened in 2024.  We went into the Notre Dame Archaelogical Crypts.  The excavation site has vestigees of ancient, medieval, and modern Paris.  I did learn the original name for this city was Lutetia.  The name change to Paris took place gradually over the course of the 4th century.  

Our day was still not finished.  We went back to our apartment and rested a few hours and went out for our last dinner in Paris and then went back to the Eiffel tower to view the light display that happens every night, on the hour until 11:00PM.  When in Paris visit the Eiffel during the day, then during the night.

Tomorrow we will board a train and go to Bayeux.  Our history tour continues.

Beth and her daddy


Ethan and Samuel


Jerry and Linda


Montmartre
Seine River
Moulin Rouge
Morning Coffee
Saint Denis
Notre Dame Crypt
Stuck in a wall, It’s said that if you can touch his head, you will have luck for the rest of your life.


Notre Dame
Moulin de la Galette painting by Van Gogh

Our last night in Paris










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