"Les escaliers de la butte..."

The other day, Steph and I took a few hours to go to Montmartre and see one of the best views of Paris from Sacre Coeur, a beautiful white church/cathedral/basilica on top of a hill in Paris. After getting off at the Chateau Rouge metro stop in Montmartre, we proceeded to walk up a series of very very steep streets which ultimate led us to a series of very very steep stairways. Not gonna lie, it was a little more strenuous than I had expected it would be, as in, I was severely out of breath by the time we got to the base of Sacre Coeur. But it was more than worth it.

When we got to the top, we could feel cool wind in our hair and on our faces, and as we turned the bend around a bunch of trees, a breathtaking view of Paris was there to greet us. BUT the best was yet to come, and so I will hold the suspense for you, as well.
We turned around, and there was Sacre Coeur, the beautiful, pristine, unique Catholic basilica with its majestic domes and towers. Aaaaand we took a lot of pictures of it. Now, have you seen Moulin Rouge? No? We're not friends anymore. Anyway, there is a song that Rufus Wainwright sings called "La Complainte de la butte" which talks about "les escaliers de la butte" or "the stairs of the hill", which refers to the stairs of Montmartre leading up to the basilica!
We paid 5 euros each to bust our asses to get up to the dome at the top of Sacre Coeur. WOO MORE STAIRS! I actually started getting nauseated because it was the most claustrophia-inducing, tiny, little, slippery staircase and it went on FOR-FREAKING-EVER. After breaking into a sweat, being completely out of breath, and slightly nauseated, we finally bust out of the tiny doorway for people of our size into the fresh air and were met by the most beautiful view of Paris that I imagine could possibly exist. No words, just pictures can do attempt to do it justice:

We stayed up there for a while, just looking out over Paris, trying to pick out the buildings we recognized, guessing where our home at Les Citadines might be. I took an obscene number of pictures, and then we finally decided that it might be a good time to head back down. Another nauseating, spiraling descent via the tiniest stairwell EVER. Then, when we got out, we sat on the steps and listened to this tiny man play his harp. It was the most soothing, surreal experience ever: Sitting silently next to one of my closest friends, a cool wind blowing through the trees, listening to the soothing music of a harp on the steps of Sacre Coeur with all of Paris lying in front of us. After spending half an hour just sitting quietly, we decided to go to a new sort of amazing place: La Place Pigalle.
According to "Let's Go PARIS", an amazing guide book, La Place Pigalle is a "salacious, simmering stew of sleaze". Bingo. Our kind of place. And so we walked for a while and knew we were headed in the right location when all the Champion supermarkets and cute coffee shops were suddenly replaced by sex shops, neon signs advertising peep shows, and pictures of topless women with strategically placed smiley faces and other slightly lewd images. And then there it was: the MOULIN ROUGE!

As uncultured and ignorant as it sounds, it is so weird to actually physically see and experience something that I saw romanticized in movies, books, and music. Pretty cool.

All in all, a very interesting and wonderful outing.