In search of art in Montmartre

Back in February, Jen and I took a trip one night up to the top of Montmarte. I remembered from my month in Paris back in 2000 that Montmartre was always a fun, although touristy place to go. Unfortunately for us that night, it was deserted; perhaps because it was winter and in the low 20s.

We woke up Saturday morning with an itch to give it another shot. But first, we gave in to temptation and headed to Breakfast in America for some tasty diner food. BIA, as it's called, is a cramped diner that serves up pancakes, eggs, bacon, omlettes and crappy coffee...just like a real American diner! In fact, it was pretty true to form and seemed out of place in Paris. It's run by a couple of friendly Californians who have a couple locations in the city. We haven't eaten anything like that since we've been here, but I must admit it tasted good and authentic. Jen ordered up the 2x2x2 (pancakes, eggs, bacon) and I had the BB (breakfast burrito). Nothing like some grease to get a day started.

We took the metro from there to the base of Montmartre. Montmartre is the name of the area and hilltop that overlooks Paris. It's the highest point in Paris and offers a great view of the city below. On the top of the hill is the Sacre Coeur, a bright white church that is the face of Montmartre. The steps that lead from the church down the hill are a popular hang out spot for locals, tourists and even the occasional guitarist. Behind the church on the back side of the hill, Montmartre is a series of tiny streets and squares filled with touristy restaurants, caricature artists, souvenir stores and art galleries. You can probably guess from the title of the post that we weren't there for a miniature Eiffel Tower. Jen and I wanted to bring home some art from our time in Paris and Montmartre is a pretty reasonable place to find paintings. The area has always been home to a thriving community of local artists and you just have to stroll into some of the art galleries to see how talented they are. Montmartre probably isn't the place where a serious art collector would stop, but you can find nearly unlimited oil paintings of Parisian life. We probably flipped through a hundred oil paintings before selecting a couple really nice ones to take home. With our arms full, we made our way home with some great paintings to cover our walls in TX.

That night we met up with some friends for a modified champagne cruise. The regular Champagne cruises aren't yet going later at night and cost 40 euros. Since we had spent the day running around Montmarte and missed the early evening cruise, we opted for the Bateaux Mouches instead. The Bateaux Mouches are the touristy boats that travel up and down the most scenic part of the Seine River. It only costs 10 euros and is actually a really pleasant way to spend an hour. It's been a while since I've been on one and I must admit that we really enjoyed it. The champagne came after the cruise since the Bateaux Mouches are dry - booh! Luckily for our group, there is a great cafe not too far away where we could sip champagne and watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle.

Montmarte

(click for photos)