The Little Things

Many times in my life that I take the small things for granted and forget about just sitting and relaxing.  The one thing on this trip that kept coming to my mind was a movie, Zombieland.  In the movie there are four people trying to find others that are alive and survive themselves.  During the movie there are rules about what you should do to stay safe, but one of those rules #32 is to enjoy the little things.

While I walked around the streets most of the time it was hurry, hurry, hurry, but when we walked to the Montmartre district of Paris; things were different.  Time almost wanted to stop, people slowed down, and the sounds of the city weren't noticeable. Every street is different than the first with its own little quirk.

Before you come to this park of the city make sure that you wear good shoes and have some time to just explore.  At every turn you will see someone playing music, drawing or painting, and those just sitting watching the day pass by.

When I found out what this little piece of Paris was all about, it made me want to go even more.  It seems like no matter where you stand you will always know where that arrondissement is.  When you look up and see the Sacre Coeur, you know that is the Montmartre.  Trying to walk up the steep stone walkways is a must.  There are many shops that entice you with smells of chocolate and macaroons, plus the air condition is a nice touch given how hot you will be after walking.

The stairs up to the top of the Sacre Coeur can be tasking, but if you don't want to do stairs, you can wind your way up the side.  Another way up is to take the lift, but that cost is around 7 Euros a person.  However, you if walk up, every time you turn around you get a different view from the first.  If you want to get a better feel for what is around without all of the walking there is a small white train that will maneuver its way for you, but unless you are under the age five I wouldn't suggest it.  I would suggest doing what we did.  Walk up, look around, go into the church, and take a side route back down.  Make sure that when you go back down that you take notice that you stay off of the street Boulevard de Clichy, unless you want to see sex shops and peeps shows.  If this is your thing, go for it.  I don't judge and I just gave you a street name to make it easier in your adventure.  The only reason that we went to this street is due to the fact Moulin Rouge is right there.

Anyway, let me get back to the wonderful hill of Montmartre.  I normally put all of the pictures into the text, but today I want to share most of them at the end since I have a few that I just have to put up.  Let me start with the actual walk up, from the start.  When you get off of the Metro you can take any street that you would like, but Rue de Steinkerque has a lot of odd souvenirs and good views of the Sacre Coeur.  The road, like I said is steep, but manageable and you will be able to see how many stairs you will be able to climb to the top.  From the base of the road to where the best views are you will have to climb 270 steps.  Here is the one picture that I will share of all those steps and trust me that I was not happy, but we made it.  Trust when I say that it will be worth it in the end!

(That is my husband and me!)

Going up all of those stairs you can see all kinds of little things that you wouldn't normally see.  Gardens, people taking a break and eating lunch, houses off to the side, and different parts of this wonderful Basilica. Take the time to look around and see all of the sites that this place offers.

Go inside and take time to look at each individual place that you can say a prayer.  You can not take any photos inside.  The only pictures that I did take was of my husband who lit a candle in memory of his grandmother.  This was very touching to me and I know that it would have meant the world to her.  Make sure that if you have a prayer to write it in the big book next to where you leave.

Like I said before, don't go down the way you came up.  Try out other ways to get back to the Metro.  We decided to to take a small side street where I heard music being played.  A woman with an accordion on a landing of the stairs.  It was beautiful to hear all of the music around, but this lady had the best spot.

The stairs are abundant wherever you look, but don't let that deter you from going off the beaten path.  Let the town guide you to where you need to go and enjoy the little things along the way.

Stairs going up

People eating lunch

Sacre-Coeur

Graffiti

Stairs going down to side street

Artists 

 Train

Road leading up to Sacre-Coeur

Garden on the hill

Merry-Go-Round

Now...the moment that I have built up to.  After all of those stairs, the views!!!  I am going to tell you now, the pictures do not do it justice, but just pretend that you are standing there after all 270 steps.  It really is worth all of the sweat and blisters that it took to get there. 

I am sorry that all of the pictures are messed up, the computer did not like how I had them.

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