A Month in Paris in Winter
Day 5: Art & Food in Montmartre
06.01.2015 - 05.02.2015
The question of "what was I thinking" has occurred more than once. Why come to Paris in the dead of winter when I could have gone anywhere? I now have one answer to that question. I wandered the western side of Montmartre and did touristy things. As I took my time going up and down hills, I realized that this wouldn't be amusing in summertime heat. Spring and fall bring massive numbers of tourists. Today was a perfect day to sightsee in Montmartre. The people in the street were mostly locals carrying their groceries and running their Saturday errands. I'm starting to look so local people stop and ask me for directions. 
I set out to find where the artists had painted and hung out. I more or less just wandered. It's hard to get too lost here if you look up and see Sacre Coeur you can get your bearings pretty easily. I saw Moulin de La Galette which is now a restaurant and appears in paintings by Renoir. I stumbled on the Lapin Agile Caberet where Van Gogh, Renoir, and Steve Martin hung out. Not together. But Steve Martin wrote a play about it by the same title. And who knew there is a vineyard in the heart of Montmartre? It's the only one in Paris.
Of course I saw the Moulin Rouge and then worked my way up Rue Lepic where the cafe made famous by the film Amelie is. 
Rue Lepic is food heaven, it turns out. There are fish mongers, butchers, cheese and wine shops, and the always tempting boulangeries. I bought a rotisserie chicken and haricot verts. There were many chicken places, but I picked the one with the longest line. I trust locals to find the best food.
The surprise delight of the day (not that I'm taking the chicken discovery lightly) was finding Theo Van Gogh's house. I wasn't looking for it. I have a passion for doors and windows and I stopped to take a photo of a beautiful blue door. I moved in close for another shot and saw a sign stating it had been Theo's home.
In addition to loving Monet, as I wrote about yesterday, I'm obsessed with Van Gogh. Later this month, I am taking a train to Amsterdam to see the Van Gogh museum. Discovering the blue door was like icing on the tarte !
Posted by teethetrav 06:14 Archived in France Tagged food paris sacre_coeur france van_gogh moulin_rouge moulin_galette montmartre_vineyard lapin_agile renoir theo_van_gogh Comments (0)
