Montmartre

The last time we were in Paris we did not get to Montmartre, so this was Don's first visit.  He's fun to experience things with; his curiosity about things make him the perfect person to explore with.

I guess I did not realize that there's more to Montmartre than the Sacre-Coeur Basilica and the artsy village at the top of the hill.  The surrounding residential area is quiet and green and quite lovely.

We rode The Metro from one of the Metro stops close to our hotel - The Madeleine Stop.

We became pretty familiar with traveling this way and loved it. 

That's not to say we didn't take a couple of wrong turns, go the wrong way, end up in the wrong place.  

But oh well - we just asked a few more directions, got ourselves turned around and tried again.

But you know, it's Paris.  If you end up in the wrong place, so what?!

We hopped off at the Abbesses stop.

And what should we see - a carousel! Fun!

Not one of the gorgeous old ones, but still fun to see.


Along with pretty window displays

And a very cool hat shop

It's the little things that can tickle you pink, isn't it?  I cannot tell you how happy it made me to catch a picture of these iconic steps without a single person going up or down.  Yay, me!  Not quite a Gilberte Brassai worthy photo, but still . . . 

This sweet watercolor now lives in Meat Camp, NC

We stumbled onto one of the many hidden gardens of Paris and enjoyed a little quiet time among the irises

(There was an unlocked gate a little farther down the street).  

And then, darned if we did stumble onto the Man in the Wall!  I love him!

Wandering aimlessly is one of the most fun things to do in Paris.

And our next stumble was into the wonderfully mysterious Montmartre Cemetery


Names of people buried here that you may recognize include Emile Zola, Alexandre Dumas,  Leon Foucault, and Degas

Next stumble - The Moulin Rouge

A beer, and back to the hotel to decide what's next

More Tomorrow!!