Trapped in Paris! Day 4

So yesterday, I started by taking Panda on a couple of walks, of course. However, the past few days, her walks have been different. Suddenly, it actually feels like SPRING outside. And not just tentative April spring--now it is actually HOT when we are walking, and the park is filled to the brim with people! I have decided that walking through parks is where you can catch people at their happiest. It's a slice of humanity truly enjoying itself.

In the afternoon, I decided to venture to Montmartre, a quartier I don't know very well. Of course, I had to go to the main attraction there, Sacre Coeur.



Afterwards, I went to a lesser-known church that literally stands in Sacre Coeur's shadow--St. Pierre, one of the oldest churches in Paris. In addition to becoming an Art Nouveau and Art Deco nerd, I am quickly becoming a nerd about church architecture and history. This one was apparently built on the sight of a Roman temple in the 12th century (as opposed to Sacre Coeur, which was built in the early 20th century). I particularly like the Beauty-and-the-Beast-style stained glass windows, which were made after the original windows were broken during WWII. Here's a pic:


I also checked out two museums I've been meaning to get to: Espace Salvador Dali, and Halle St. Pierre. The Dali museum was a bit of a disappointment--it was mostly sculptures he had made in the 1970s and 1980s depicting objects and characters he had already depicted in paintings. Here are a couple:



Halle St. Pierre was a bit more interesting. It is a museum of "Art Brut," which basically means any art that wouldn't usually be accepted by society. It's an idea that the French artist Jean Dubuffet came up with in the 1950s. The current exhibition was artwork by Japanese artists, most of which are patients at mental institutions. Knowing that the artists had been diagnosed with psychiatric issues made looking at the artwork really interesting. Sometimes it was clear what the artists' obsessions were, sometimes the art seemed really elementary, and sometimes it just seemed like normal, beautiful artwork! It was interesting how much it changed my thought process by knowing the history behind these. A lot of the "elementary" ones did look like other modern art, so who are we to say that this art is any less worthy? On the other hand, was the whole idea of the exhibition a bit condescending? Overall, it was really interesting, and I found myself having strong emotional reactions to some of the art.

And last but not least--I went to Cemetière de Montmartre, where several famous people are buried. Not to sound morbid, but French cemetaries are actually really cool--so many of the graves are actually little chapels for entire families, so it's a little like walking down a row of miniature houses! The grave I really wanted to see was Francois Truffaut's. It was a simple, small grave, and I would have missed it if not for the map I had. It was pretty moving being there and seeing the flowers people still left for him and everything. Anyways, overall, a good day in Montmartre!