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Showing posts from August 9, 2006

Views of Paris (5) - Montmartre 巴黎掠影(5)——蒙馬特區

My friend and I spent the afternoon in Montmartre before the fireworks in the evening. Montmartre is a district which is at a higher elevation than the rest of Paris, and the famous Basilica of Sacré Coeur is built at the highest point of the hill. The trip up the steps to Sacré Coeur and the view downhill from the top did, interestingly, feel somewhat similar to the Spanish steps in Rome. The Basilica also had a tower which was visited by surprisingly few tourists. We took advantage of it and we took in the beautiful views at a leisurely pace while enjoying the cool breeze. Sacré Coeur was surrounded by plenty of restaurants and souvenir shops. There were also some buskers who drew crowds of visitors in the middle of the streets, and the local traffic had to fight hard against those spectators. On the way downhill to Moulin Rouge, we traversed through the many steep narrow streets with steps, in between the typical small residential buildings. We also walked past a grocery store which