Montmatre

We had a change of plan yesterday morning over breakfast and decided to stay in Montmatre for the day - getting a little overloaded with galleries and museums!

So we took a leisurely walk around parts of the streets nearby that we hadn't yet seen. There is a photo opportunity around almost every corner. We walked a different way up to Scare Coeur hoping it wouldn't be so busy today - these parklands around the base of the hill and leading up to the basilica are so pretty.  

 A restaurant on the way up the hill.

 The view from the base of Sacre Coeur is one of the best views in Paris. You can see for miles across the rooftops of Paris.

 The crowd was much smaller today so we went inside for a look. Gorgeous architecture which was built to raise the spirits of the French people after they lost the Franco Prussian war and is dedicated to the 58,000 people who lost their lives in this war. The basilica was completed in 1914 but wasn't opened and consecrated until 1919 after the end of World War 1.

This week is the annual festival of  Montmatre and there is lots happening around the area. These men and women were dressed to impress! All around the base of Sacre Coeur there were food and wine stalls - the grilled duck and foie gras baguettes were very yummy!! 

 We did manage to fit in one gallery and it was this one which had an amazing collection of work by Salvadore Dali - mainly sculptures and prints. You could even buy some original Dali prints which at around $6000 each I thought was pretty good value. But there's not one coming home in my luggage unfortunately! There are, however, three lovely small original artworks coming home with us which we bought from a lovely gallery just a few doors from our apartment. Not the usual tourist artworks but lovely contemporary pieces from French artists.

 Heading back down the hill.

So today is our last day in Paris. We are going back into the city for another look at Musee D'Orsay and hopefully the Rodin museum as well.

Hope everyone is well at home and the heat isn't getting too bad yet. The weather here has cooled down quite a bit since we first arrived - it was quite chilly out and about yesterday and had James looking for every excuse to go indoors!

Until next time xx