Montmartre - Saturday March 12

Saturday March 12

Today I was to follow Degas and Renoir through the Montmarche district. I caught the Metro to Clichy Place (where I finished my last Impressionist walk) and walk to the site of the Cafe Guerbois, the gathering place of the impressionist, the "Guerbois Group" where Manet lead the discussions over coffee with Renoir, Monet, Degas, Cezanne, Bazille, Latour, Pissarro and the writer Emile Zola. Manet drew "At the cafe" here. It was an important place but it was now gone. I breathed in air they breathed, as it was all that was left. From here I walk to the house where Latour painted the famous painting of Manet and the impressionist team in Bazille's Studio "Studio in the Batignolles". It was at number 9 rue de la Condamine, but only 7 and 11 were marked. More air, but I was walking their walk.

From here I headed toward Montmarche and dropped at the Montmarche cemetery to pay homage at Degas' grave. Then I walked down the Boulevard de Clichy to the Moulin Rouge. Shock-horror the tourist were there in flocks. I had to wait for a huge white bus to move to get a photo. The Moulin Rouge is still there but has morphed into this century as a marketed apparition n - big red windmill (Moulin) as well.

I then began to wind my way up the hill towards the great Cathedral Sacre Coeur, walking up the steep and winding Rue Lepic and passing a place Van Gogh lived for a while. (crowded with tourist packing all the stand tourist traps) At the top, at the intersection was a dilapidated park with a green wrought iron arch over the gateway spelling out "Moulin de la Galette". Could this really be the place where Renoir painted his master piece "Dancing at the Moulin de la Galette" I wondered? I studying the painting in my book and nothing seemed to match. I took some photos and move on and up. This time I checked house number and I found 79 rue Lepic and a 83 there was a cafe named "Moulin de la Galette" and it had a windmill on top. This area was flatter and was a more like a place for an open-air dance. More photos.

I continued to follow the winding streets (trying to avoid the tours and taxis) which suddenly open out onto the Place du Tertrer when all the want-a-be artist sell the trade. I walked among them all and assess most paintings as "kitsch" with over use of colour and facial distortion faking some sort of abstraction. I must admit them were a few which were excellent. Particularly the portraits. I tried to photo the portrait artist doing their instant portraits. It was fun attempting too line-up the subject, painting and artist in the one photo. I was impressed with some of the artist of their ability to capture the essence of a face.

After getting over the shock of the tourist crowd at the cafes and shops I move quick onwards and upwards to Sacre Coeur missing Renoir's studio where he worked on "Dancing at the Moulin de la Galette" (damn!!). The Cathedral was awesome. Its post ion was commanding. The view over Christendom Paris was total. I followed the crowd into the Cathedral and secretly though some interior photos. I pause in the area at the front of the Cathedral to look at Paris and realised just how much of Paris I now knew and have seen (and there is much more to see). I slowly descended the great stairway down, taking the occasional photo, to have a late lunch in the children's park at the bottom. The weather had turned very cold and I actual though it might snow.

I still was following Degas and made my way to the Place Pigalle were he lived. His famous painting of the couple seated in a cafe "Absinthe" was painted in a cafe there. It was gone of course, replace by a modern cafe and the street was now all sex shops. A pretty girl glance at me from a shop window, I felt flattered, but when she had assessed the size of my wallet she quickly looked away - ho hum.

It was getting late so I headed for the nearest Metro station (Le Peletier) which would take me directly to my comfortable refuse on the I'le St Louis.