I was walking north in the City of Light , basking in the sunshine of a great Summer afternoon. What was north of the centre ? Well, a little area of Paris called Montmarte, comprising of a kind of artistic, fairly eclectic person, although you could very well argue that this type of element left long ago and now it's just a very rich district masquerading under an alternative Parisian identity. So be it, that's the route that my mental compass would take me. Although for some strange reason, following my fairly accurate internal GPS and a light on Lonely Planet map I ended up at Gare du Nord, which was a stop that I had made the night before. Well, at least I knew I was travelling north.
A little while later I encountered the infamous Pigalle, basically on the border of the 9th and 18th arrondissements, the entire area is a red light district, sex shop central basically. Although at the time of day I was there it was fairly tame, plenty of tourists around, leering and pointing and probably wishing that their partners had the guts to walk into one of these places with them without feeling self conscious. The drawcard I guess of this area is the infamous Moulin Rouge - known ofcourse for its risque type of entertainment, and from the prices, a little ridiculously positioned. Never the less, took a couple of photos for the price of a walk by.
I cheated a little as this is a night shot that I took a couple of nights later but eh, you get the idea. After cutting through Pigalle I started on my way up to Montmarte, making my way up the 130 mtrs or so to the highest point in the city.
It's amazing, almost everywhere you turn you see a place of importance or a well known site. As I made my way up to the top of the hill I encountered the stairs of Rue Foyatier. I don't know how many black and white shots I've seen of this staircase and at the end of the day, they're just a set of stairs right, but it's Paris and even if you're single you can help but get wrapped up in the romance of it all - yes, the little sensitive Cancerian that I am, it's a blessing and a curse all in one.
Walking through the area I couldn't help but thing how damn quaint, cute and cool it was. I absolutely loved it and it ended up being one of my favourite areas of Paris, probably just behind Le Marais and on par with the area that I was staying in, the Latin Quarter.
The most famous building in the area however is the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, a white domed church on top of butte Montmarte (so yeah, the hill of Montmarte) which overlooks Paris and can be regarded as probably the third best view going around, after the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. I've got to say, another breathtaking site of real beauty which holds a commanding position and definitely acts as a reference point when you're trying to triangulate positioning when walking the streets with no particular destination in mind. Kind of reminds me of Sydney in that sense, I often say to visitors, if you can see Sydney Tower then you should know roughly where you are. In Paris if you can see the Eiffel Tower and the Basilica then there's no reason at all you should be lost unless you're drunk out of your mind.
As the afternoon drew on I headed back down into Pigalle and picked myself out a bar for a couple of afternoon cocktails, from memory I took on a Mojito and some other concoction with a Kahlua base. What the drinks did was to spark my appetite and for me that could only mean taking on a little inspiration from Anthony Bourdain and heading down into Le Marais area to check out a little placed called Chez Robert & Louise.
As I've already said, travelling around Paris and zipping from one side to another is not a difficulty at all. In an instant I was on a train, the station name currently escaping me, making a fast break for Les Halles and then perhaps another change to get to Hotel de Ville. Again, I think the naming is close but I'm not quite on the money.
Le Marais , meaning 'marsh' in French is said to be a bourgeois area of Paris, cutting across the 3rd and 4th arrondissement. You know, Wikipedia told me that - although back in the day when the area was marsh, I hazard a guess and say that it definitely wasn't for the 'well to do'. Just walking around however I could see what Wikipedia meant, chic bars, restaurants, cool bookstores, antique shops, any shops. You also get a bit of a community mix, distinctly gay but also Jewish and I was also feeling a strong Turkish presence. In any case I loved it and ended up spending a little more time there in the next few days plus getting my locks chopped off (silly, silly move - there was really no point)....but yeah, definitely my favourite area of Paris.....a favourite amongst many favourites.
Now, a little about Chez Robert & Louise. As Bourdain does, he cruises cities and hits various areas of a town picking up bits and pieces of culinary interest. This stop, on his Paris show was one that intrigued me. The food was distinctly 'old school French', hearty, tasty of course, and cooked on an open fire in the back of the restaurant. Now I call it a restaurant but this place is extremely small, like a large kitchen. It squeezes in its customers who I don't think mind too much due to its great rustic, earthly setting and has an overwhelmingly homelike feel.....my type of place. I pulled up a seat at the counter and just had to take down the blood sausage. Yeah, it may sound fiendish but bloody hell, was it tasty. Here are a few shots from this fantastic little pitstop.
I've got to say, Bourdain got it absolutely right. Sitting back having a few glasses of red with my blood sausage, some fantastic pork belly and an unbelievably homely and cool environment the place and the city was already starting to grow on me, like I new it would. Truthfully Paris never had a chance, I was going to 'claim it' from the get go.
More than satisfied I walked through the Marais with the late evening twighlight illuminating the tops of the buildings and giving the whole area a magical type of feel. Wanting to continue on with my day I decided that I'd get my tail over to the Arc de Triomphe and take a few photos at night just to capture the lights of Paris. I've added a few photos below, this is what rounded out an amazing first day in my favourite town going around.
Twighlight on the streets of Paris
Arc de Triomphe
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