Around the World in 330 Days: Brian's Fulbright Journey in China and Elsewhere: Day 319: Paris, Day 9--Montrmarte...Sacre-Coeur and Espace Dali

Today we decided to go to Montmarte and see Sacre-Coeur. Interestingly enough, we had to take Line 2 to get there instead of Line 1, which we've been taking 95% of the time during our first week in Paris. It was a brutally hot day; it got up to 95 degrees around 5 pm. Unfortunately, the area around Sacre-Coeur was very touristy, with a lot of souvenir stands. But what amazing views! Sacre-Coeur resembles the Taj Mahal in its stark whiteness. My Frommer's Guide Book says that, when it rains, "it secretes a chalky substance that acts as a fresh coat of paint." The steps all the way up to the top looked pretty intimidating, but fortunately Kerry found a lift that we could take: four the cost of four Metro tickets (7,60 euro total). However, considering the weather, I think it was worth it. Online I noticed that some folks said that it wasn't worth it to go in the cathedral, but I'd have to disagree. It was really beautiful and peaceful. I felt a real sense of serenity there that I didn't feel at Notre-Dame. Perhaps this was due to the fact that a Mass (the 3 pm Mass) was going on while we were there. It was odd to have tourists milling about, taking pictures and buying souvenirs, in the middle of a Catholic Mass. Yet, the areas were kept very separate. Nuns were a major part of the mass; they even dispensed communion to the mass-goers. There are a lot of mosaics in the basilica and on the very top, there's a huge mosaic picture of Jesus. We went to the souvenir shop when we were done; I managed to make some small talk in French with the cashier lady. Leaving, we took in the splendor of the view of the city from the top of the hill; Montmarte is on this big hill....that's why it was helpful to take a lift up there.

Next, we decided to go to the "Espace Dali," which was a small Dali Museum a few blocks away. Again, it was in a very touristy area, with lots of cafes and restaurants, and people doing caricatures. The museum was a bit pricey (12 euros per person), but it was interesting. I was a bit disappointed that a lot of the works were "inspired" by Dali and just "completed by artisans." Still, we saw many drawings and illustrations Dali did, including art inspired by Alice in Wonderland, erotica, and the Bible. I liked that they were showing a copy of the Disney film inspired by Dali that never came to fruition, too. Many of the things we saw were representations of his previous works, such as sculptures of The Persistence of Memory in different forms, or his Lobster Telephone. Near the end, we went through more of a formal gallery area, where it seemed like they were selling Dali lithographs.

Since we had noted earlier an Irish pub that had air conditioning, we decided to go there for dinner. It was called Corcoran's Irish Pub. I enjoyed it because it was quite different from most of the places we've been going to. First of all, we got to eat inside. Secondly, no one was smoking. Thirdly, since I ate bangers and mashed, I didn't have to have french fries (which I'm getting very sick of). Kerry had his usual cheeseburger; he enjoyed it. But it was quite expensive: just for two small diet Cokes and two iced peach teas, they charged us 20 euro alone (that's about 22 bucks, folks). No such thing as free refills here. I really liked that the waitresses spoke perfect English; apparently, one of them told Kerry that she was from Ottawa, Canada. This was a nice break from French.

We took Line 2 home and got home with little trouble, stopping briefly at our local convenience store for more water. The front desk offered to print out our Eiffel Tower tickets for us--we're going Monday, now that the two-day strike is over--so they did so. I think we'll tackle Le Centre Pompidou tomorrow.