In a post three years ago, I registered my reservations about the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur. We went there today after our sojourn to the Eiffel Tower. It could be that the neighborhood is growing on me, or at least the basilica is. It was much less crowded than in previous visits, so I could examine the chapels and artwork more closely.
We then had lunch at Le Consulat Restaurant. I had a tasty omelet, while Bruce had a burger and Julian had linguine with Bolognese sauce. The food was reasonably priced for Paris. We went cruising around the Place du Tertre, where the starving artists set up their easels. Most of them were caricaturists to cater to the tourists. Alas, none of them looked like Gene Kelly in An American in Paris. Some of them could have been painting on that place since the movie came out.
It was a rather cold day. On our way out of the Metro at Montmartre, Bruce bought some roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. For those of you who only know these from Mel Tormé’s Christmas Song, let me school you. Chestnuts are different from other nuts in that they have a higher content of starch and less fat. The outer shell is thin and has to be slashed before roasting. The shells flake away after roasting, so there’s minimal work. A tasty street food that’s très Parisien.
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