Paris ..

[Quassia]

Has anyone here ever visited 'Escaliers a Montmartre'

[Euphemia]

Yes. They are just as in the many pictures

[Quassia]

Really Euphemia! I just bought a large print of this and fell in love with the look of it. What's the area like? Tell me more!

[DTCwordfan]

yes - the whole area is rather nice......looked at an apartment very close by, but it was all the tourists around that put me off

Good to take visitors there though - there's even a small vinyard nearby making about 500 litres a year on the Rue Saint Vincent - and it is thought to be mediaeval in origin.

[Quassia]

Oh thanks DT ... I'd love to go! Sounds so lovely!

[WuTang]

Medieval...even!

[Quassia]

http://www.easyart.co...Montmartre-45537.html

[Euphemia]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre.
I stayed in a friend's flat in nearby rue de Clignancourt which is very multi-cultural with many north African shops with colourful displays of vegetables etc. Montmartre itself is very touristy but I loved it.

[DTCwordfan]

its a good hike up the steps but once up, the whole area is a mass of small restaurants, galleries and a street market for the artists. There's also a small railway to use and you can actually drive up there, but parking can be fun.....(one of the reasons I did not stay there - had the use of a garage for one, but any visitors would have struggled). The Basilique de Sacre Coeur isn't my fav eglise in the city, but the views out over Paris are superb......

[DTCwordfan]

I am surprised. Both versions are valid.

[Quassia]

Euphemia, thanks for the link .. so my kind of place! DT ... really sounds so nice! I'm jealous!

[DTCwordfan]

Have you been to Paris - if you like the thought of Montmartre then also head for the Left Bank up river from the Musee d'Orsay and perhaps even St Germain-en-Laye, a Parisian equivalent of Hampstead Heath - a lovely old town and full of good shops and cafes - also got a spectacular Chateau, overlooking the Seine, to which James II fled after the Glorious Revolution.

[DTCwordfan]

Parts of The Chateau such as the Sainte-Chapelle also being Mediaeval....

[WuTang]

Touche

[Quassia]

I've never been to Paris. May be one day ... I do hope so.

[Mags22]

Montmartre is wonderful - but our taxi-driver warned me to hang on to my handbag as there were theives about!! so ended up with white knuckles !!! I'd go again though

[Quassia]

It's sad but a fact Mags .. these warnings are everwhere. How lucky you are to have been there!

[pink-kittens]

you have as much chance of having your bag stolen in any capital city of the world as you have in Paris

It is a gorgeous country, full stop! you'd love it

[Quassia]

I know pink!

[BenDToy]

The most common "scam" at the moment involves someone (usually east European looking) finding a gold ring on the ground in front of you. (NB they didn't find it they planted it, it isn't gold and they don't deserve a reward for being honest/generous!!) If you visit Paris it is almost a certainty it will happen to you at some point. Four times to me in 3 days a couple of weeks ago. Tell them to p off!!

[mike11111]

Don't tell them to p off, tell them to, "Fous le camp!"
The gold ring is a new one on me, although I haven't been back to Paris for 5 years. The main scam on the Boulevard de Clichy below Montmartre was the three card trick, for which people amazingly still fall.