Best Place to Visit in Paris - Montmartre
Did I mention Montmartre is romantic? It would be tough to find a nicer spot to have your best gal or guy beside you as you gaze out over the city beneath you from the steps of the wedding cake-like basilica Sacre Coeur, a dazzling-white architectural masterpiece in the Byzantine-Romanesque styles. The basilica was built to appease God for the catastrophic Franco-Prussian war of 1870; someone has been praying there ever since to atone for it.Early in the 19th century, Montmartre and its cheap wine began to attract artists, and that continued into the 20th century, with some of the big names like Toulouse Lautrec, Modigliani, Degas & Van Gogh living or loitering there. They and others would typically buy or rent whatever studio suited their financial situations at the time.
The nearest Metro station is Abbesses, from which you emerge through its old Art Nouveau arch into the beautiful Place des Abbesses. Another option is to take the funky funiculaire railway above rue Tardieu; this will cost you a Metro ticket but save you from having to mount a lot of steep stairs (after all, Montmartre is a small mountain, and much of your walking will be up and down slopes or stairways. Another option is the Montmartrobus, which, for a price, will show you around in comfort; it"s a good way to get the lay of the land on this butte; you can get out and hoof it wherever you like.
The Place du Tertre is the Mecca of this cozy neighborhood. Here you will find great photography opportunities, what with the big red umbrellas above outdoor diners at eateries surrounding this square beneath old picaresque building facades. Artists on the square will do your sweetheart"s portrait, some of them better than others would do it, so shop around for the one whose work you admire most.
There is a lot more to recommend Montmartre. Not only is there an interesting cemetery, they even have their own vineyard there; but that"s just for starters.
Montmartre art
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