Sacré-Coeur and Montmartre Hill...

 

ItSSD_8365's not hard to feel as though you're climbing to heaven when you visit Sacré-Coeur. Too big to ignore, this grand Basilica is perched atop Montmartre hill. The inside of the Basilica has massive golden mosaics, vaulted arches, bronzed doors decorated with biblical scenes and stained-glass windows. We stayed for a few minutes of the evening mass before SSD_8341heading outdoors to soak up the view of the Paris skyline at night.

The name signifies the “mount of martyrs" because it is said that this is the place of the martyrdom of Saint Dennis, the first bishop of Paris and his companions.

The neighborhood of Montmartre stands apart from the hustle and bustle of thSSD_8350e rest of the city. Now home to local street artists, in its day this area of the city was immortalized by infamous artists like Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh and Renoir. This is a fun area to tour the shops, shop for local art and enjoy the local patisseries.

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