Travel Thursday: Sacre Coeur

If you are an Amelie fan, you will already know of the Sacre Coeur for an amusing string of proverbs, a merry go round and a phone booth. If you have been to the Sacre Coeur you may think of it and recall the beautiful stained glass, the view of the city or the hundreds of steps it took you to climb the hill. I personally love the Sacre Coeur for all these reasons and more. I love the view high up on that hill overlooking Paris, I love to sit and think about how many lives are going on in the lanes and alleyways that radiate out from the river. I love the serene feeling that exists when you walk into the basilica. I love the idea that people have been coming here, in times of happiness and strife, for hundreds of years, seaching for peace, community or a place to shelter. I love the art market a block away. You can watch people sell their wares, or the artistes who choose to ignore the tourists and just paint what they love. I love the taste of chocolat and the crunch of a baguette from a boulangerie nearby, crumbs all over your mittens, and the cup steaming, because it is so cold up on the hill in November. I love the old streets that surround the church, made of ancient and uneven cobblestones that make buses lurch and bikes pop up and down. I loved being there with Rob, remembering the special spots I had found when I was younger visiting. Showing him all the little things that help make Paris my favorite place.