Tours of 4 districts of Paris (Part 2: Montmartre and Marais)

Wall of "I Love You"

Sunday - 9/15

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous, probably Paris trying to apologize for the ickiness yesterday. The noon tour today with Sabrina was in Montmartre and afterwards we met Michel at Place l'Hôtel de Ville to explore Le Marais. While to begin the tour, we took a pit stop to look at the multi-lingual wall of "I love you" and other inspirational quotes. 

Very hilly

Jardin des Abbesses

Montmartre is one of the two collines (hills) in Paris. The root of the word "mont-" means a raised piece of land or the highest point, as found in montagne (mountain). Situated on top of the hill is the Sacre Coeur, one of the most famous churches in Paris. Our uphill walk had us pass a couple of little treasures, the Jardin des Abbesses, a grocerie that was in the movie Amélie, a winery, a cool statue, windmill, and lots of beautiful weather. Because my last post had too many words, and a picture is worth a thousand words, I will substitute pictures for my rambling. Please enjoy :)

I didn't even recognize it at first

Great movie about Montmartre

Statue based on a famous French book

Beautiful day!

Le lapin agile (French restaurant
originally named after a dish that
chef Gille created. To say made by
Gille it is à Gille, which later became
agile - a play on words)

Passed by a rose garden

Montmartre Winery

Behind the Sacre Coeur

Limestone keeps it looking white

The art market next door

Artist on the street

Everyone's at the Sacre Coeur!!!

 

View from the front steps 

The cafe where Amélie worked

Moulin Rouge - a little smaller in person

If you have ever seen the movie Amélie, you will recognize this little café straight away. This is the cafe that Amélie worked in. We also casually passed by the Moulin Rouge on our way to the metro station. 

Hôtel de Ville

For the afternoon visit, we met Michel at the Hôtel de Ville. As per usual, Michel did not hesitate to start his lesson on the history of the Marais district along with the different stages of architecture and social implications of the changes to the district over time. This hotel does not have the same connotation as it does in English. Instead, these hotels were the houses of aristocrats and the bourgeois. As a result of the extravagant living of the upper class, this meant that the palaces of French kings had to be mindblowing- Versailles being a prime example.   

In stark contrast to the enormous hôtels are these little medieval houses, which have been preserved through the renovations. The word marais means marshland or swamp in French, which is exactly what the environment was like during the moyen age (middle ages) when people first began to inhabit the area. Originally only the poorest of people lived here.These houses have the same style as the ones we saw yesterday: wide at the bottom, narrow at the top, and adjacent houses leaning against each other for structure and stability. The width of the house is so small because each floor is only one room. The kitchen was on the first floor so the fire could heat up the whole house, the living room / welcoming room was on the second floor so guests wouldn't have to go far, and the bedroom was on the top for the most warmth. At the time, there wasn't really a sense of privacy in the home like we are used to today. Everyone shared each room, including the bedrooms!

My life every time I try to
go out with friends...

My sentiments on tours

Fashion shoot?

Old Paris wall

Along the way, we passed by a poster exhibit with vignettes of Parisian life. There are 42 drawings in total in the collaboration between illustrator Kanako and the creator Amandine. The two drawings on the left I found especially funny and relevant to my current life in Paris. Other random thing we passed by was a photo shoot for some French brand of clothing. Talk about being a fashion city. Geez.

Fun fact: Paris used to be a really small city. The original city of Paris was enclosed by stone walls, whose remnants can still be seen around the city. Also, land elevation has rise around 20 meters over the course of several hundred year as the swamps were gradually filled in and became solid ground. 

The front facade standing in the square

First garage: for horses

One of the hôtels we saw in detail was the Hôtel de Sully. There are a couple of distinguishing features of the hôtel.  The first is the square in front of the house, which provides a separation between the front door and the road. Welcomed guests are brought in through the front door to the main part of the house while unwanted guests are kept out front. The square is paved with cobble stone so that when important guests enter the square on horses, the sounds of the horseshoes echoing in the square alerts the servants of their arrival. Most of the servants live in rooms on either side of the square. There was even a covered garage like area for guests to store their horses while they visited.

Back facade

Secondly are the four statues on either side of the door in the front and rear facade pictures. I don't know if you can see them clearly enough, but they represent the four seasons: in front - winter and spring, in back - summer and autumn. The architecture during the time that this hôtel was built focused heavily on nature allegories as well as geometric shaped. Many of the awning above the windows are semicircles or triangles and decorated with twisting vines and leaves.

Notice the modest garden behind me?

Thirdly is the introduction of private gardens. Unlike the haphazard melange that is American gardens, French gardens are much more defined and precise. Everything must be symmetrical and perfectly pruned in order to demonstrate man's control over nature. Flowers are planted in specific patters, bushes are cut into shapes, and the ever poplar labyrinths are perfectly groomed as well. The garden in Sully was considered very modest in comparison to (yet again) Versailles.

Right next door was the Place des Vosges where many Parisians like to come and hang out when the weather is nice. Right smack dab in the middle is a statue of Louis XIII. 

Louis XIII

Parisians soaking in some sun

Hip band

Most famous falafel place in Paris

The Marais is a major tourist destination. There are even live bands and a falafel shop with a line that stretches over 200 meters.

Jams and butters

Baked goods galore

After the tour, I walked around with a group of girls and we stumbled upon this super cute little market/festival. There was everything from a live band to face painting, and of course lots of little stands selling artisan goods. There was even a honey stand that was attracting not only a lot of human customers, but also every bee in the area. Although I didn't buy anything, I did sample quite a few of the breads and cookies from the baked goods stand. 

Dinner on Saturday was chou fleur au gratin (cauliflower baked in a cheesy cream sauce). It was super rich, but oh so delicious when sopping up the extra sauce with a good piece of toasted bread. Sunday was simple with steamed broccoli and potatoes.