Montmartre is talked about by Parisians the way New Yorkers talk about the village: It's not what it used to be, It's like Disneyland, the artists can't afford to live here anymore,too many tourists etc. There is some truth these opinions, but there are two ways of approaching this incredibly unique village within the metropolis. The first is to follow the herd instinct and stampede your way up the famous hill, take a picture of yourself on the steps of the basilica, buy an overpriced crepe at the Place du Tertre, get conned into having your portrait sketched, and walk back down clutching newly bought key-rings, postcards, gaudy T-shirts feeling a little mystified about what all the fuss is about.
Back on the Rue de Steinkerque, walk until the street ends at Place St. Pierre. Facing you are the grassy and terraced gardens leading you to the basilica. The gardens were once gypsum quarries, hence the odd design. With the brightly lit merry go round churning out its nostalgic tunes and the imposing church white against the sky, it's time to take the obligatory photos no one will look at. If you are hungry, grab a crepe or sandwich from the stand on your left, or the pleasant café with the best view of the gardens and basilica on your right.
DETOUR: On the nearby Rue de Ronsard there is an interesting museum (St. Pierre) with local exhibitions, a gift shop and a nice café all set inside an old renovated warehouse. Across the street is the Marche St. Pierre, a multi level fabric store which rivals anything I have ever seen. If you are a designer, a home decorator or simply curious, you MUST visit this incredible business which carries every type of fabric imaginable and holds an entire office for cutting and ordering on every floor. The beauty of it is that it exudes the feel of a shop in the 1950's and not the streamlined order of a modern department store. This is the Mecca for curtain-makers, amateur tailors and seamstresses. It is also an international import/export house dealing in fabric from all over the world.
Go back to the gardens facing the basilica and you will find that to the left and up the hill are the steps and the funicular (a type of elevator/train) which you can ride to the top. The funicular does not carry the stigma of the little white train, so you can use this service and still retain your dignity, but the real traveler will scoff at such modern contrivances and take the steps. The steps are of the classic Montmartre variety--- steep and lined by pretty lampposts and deciduous trees. If it's winter and it happens to be misty, you will feel like you are in a 40's film or a Bresson photograph. *Notice the beautiful apartments you wish were yours facing the incline. At the top, turn right and you will find the 10,000,000 other people who had the same idea you did that morning. Despite the crowds, the view is the most spectacular in Paris. At night, the view is even more impressive and if you have managed to end up there with a lover, new or old, consider yourself lucky to be at the top of the food chain! Take a bottle of wine and rest assured that no bar in town has such good seating. In the summer there are often street musician who perform at the bottom of the steps, using the architecture as a kind of natural amphitheatre with an already captive audience. If you are a pretty, single girl, chances are you will have to fend off (or accept) the hopeful chatting from eager groups of young north Africans. If you are a single guy, chances are you will be trying to chat up that same single girl on the steps with the notebook and pencil and dreamy look in her eyes. You will have lots of competition, and she, lots of attention. Good luck to both.
The Basilica Sacre-Coeur was only built a century ago, an infant by Parisian standards, after the French were embarrassed by a brief but successful occupation by the Germans in 1870. It wasn't yet Hitler, but Bismark's Prussian army. The Germans seem to have a thing for Paris. The Basilica is based in Roman architecture and took over 40 years to build. (more than it took to build the Parthenon!) From a distance, the stark white domes are powerful and imposing. During WWII, 13 bombs are said to have landed on the church, but without resulting in casualties, which lent the place special status among the local people. For 5 euros you can climb the 80 meter dome and get and even better view of Paris.
Cabaret Moulin Rouge was built in 1889 by Josep Oller, who at the time owned and Olympia, another place famous in Paris. MoulinRouge is near Montmartre neighborhood of Paris called Pigalle redand is easy to locate because of the famous red windmill that has aroof. Moulin Rouge is famous because it is considered the place where was born the modern form of dance can-can. Today the MoulinRouge is a tourist attraction of dance and entertainment in mind andoffers its customers worldwide. The decor inside the cabaret still retain much of the romance of the early twentieth century France.
Among the famous artists who gave performances in the famouscabaret in Paris include: Elton John, Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra,Josephine Baker or Edit Piaf. Moulin Rouge was the subject ofpost-Impressionist works of painter Toulouse-Lautrec. Also there were several movies including cabaret name at the 2001 Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman as the 1952 adaptation wasnominated for Best Film at the Oscars.
The main attraction of cabaret is the french can-can. This dance hasexisted long before the cabaret Moulin Rouge was a dance of the working class but it was adapted by the courtesans of the Moulin Rouge in order to excite male customers premises.
