Back to Montmartre

January is a great time to visit some of the more popular sites since there are few tourists around (we're no longer tourists). So we've been a few times to the Louvre, where we saw the Kingdom of Alexander the Great–Ancient Macedonia, and the Forbidden City–Emperors of China special exhibitions as well as some of the permanent ones. 

One day, since we were in the area, we hiked back up to Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Montmartre will always be a tourist trap but it's still a unique place to visit. This time we reached it from behind, since we were coming from the St. Ouen flea market at the Porte de Clignancourt. 

It was nice to see Montmartre empty and to be able to calmly walk around and actually see new things, like Saint Pierre de Montmartre, the lesser known of the two churches on Montmartre. It's one of the oldest churches in Paris, consecrated in 1147 by Pope Eugene III, and is the only remnant of the Royal Abbey of Montmartre, a Benedictine abbey founded by Louis VI in 1133-1134.

According to the earliest biography of Saint Ignatius Loyola, in this church the founders of the Jesuit society took their vows.

We also saw old sites, like the Place du Tertre, which when the weather is warmer is taken over by the surrounding restaurants and filled with tables. We tried out a new bistro near the square, Le Poulbot, a dive that served a great and surprisingly inexpensive beef bourguignon.

On the way home we went down the usual way, passing in front of the Sacré Coeur basilica, a very popular Parisian landmark. It was built between 1875 and 1914, and its architecture was inspired by Roman and Byzantine architecture, and particularly by the Saint Front de Périgueux cathedral. It's adorned by two huge equestrian statues, of King Saint Louis and Saint Joan of Arc.