Montmartre

I hadn't intended on the day's sightseeing to be so focused but that's what happened. I wandered the Montmartre district but first I had a very long leisurely brunch at a nice cafe

This district is known for a lot of different things. One is the cemetery. There are thousands of graves of all different times and kinds. The cemetery is very much still in use today.  There are several famous people buried here. I didn't come to see those but just to explore. It was peaceful as you would want a place of rest to be.

Many of the tombs have personal plantings and other personalized symbols and mementos.

A beautiful wild rose planted for someone a long time ago??

Emile Zola grave site though he is now entombed at the Pantheon. My Metro stop is named after him.

The famous Moulin Rouge in Montmartre district.

From the cemetery I headed to Sacre-Coeur. It is a very large church on top of the mount of Montmartre. Tiny streets along the way filled with people shopping and cafe-ing.  There are hundreds of steps up to the church. People hang out on the steps overlooking the city.

Me in front of Sacre-Coeur church. It is on top of the mount.

A real find was the Musee Montmartre. It was having a three-day exhibit called Le Chat Noir (The Black Cat). It covered the time that most people think of when thinking of Paris...the late 1800's. The time of Toulouse LeTrec, the can-can girls of Moulin Rouge, the artists, the cafes, the music, the baudiness. It was a wonderful exhibit located in a home with gardens.  And as I was leaving, there was a black cat at the exit....very fitting.

A recreation of the vineyards once all around Montmartre.

I left Montmarte on the opposite side from where I had come up. It was a nice day of sightseeing.