.vaille que vaille. : Montmartre: Revisited

Montmartre is an arrondissement of Paris that I always find myself in again and again. I don't know exactly what draws me to it. I don't know if it's because it's where I stayed when I first came to Paris in 2007. I don't know if it's the old street lamps that line the cobblestone stairs which travel almost to the sky as you look up at them, practically vertical. I don't know if it's the charming architecture that transports you back to Paris in previous centuries, or the soundtrack to Amélie that always starts playing in my head when I'm standing at the foot of Sacré-Coeur. The delight of this place never ceases to touch me.

Except.

When it's 85 degrees, nowhere to go (climb) but up, you're dehydrated with a raging headache, and there's no one in the narrow streets except loud, obnoxious, map-carrying, immobile tourists. And when you're trying to calmly sit and get absorbed in a good book, there are people walking around hassling you for money, to get in their pants, or to buy a plastic eiffel tower. None of which I am the slightest bit interested in. The nerve!

But alas, everything's better after a visit to Coquelicot: a café that brings back so many tender memories for me :) Winter mornings so cold that you could see your breath as you speak softly across the table, watching the passers-by bundled up while you dip your demi-tranche, spread with butter and jam into a large bowl of hot chocolate. MmMmmm...