"Capitalist Pig" skrev i meddelandet
...
What inane drivel, Earl. You really are a pompous old fool. Why don't you
do
the world a favor and go off and die somewhere.

Capitalist Pig

Don't be so selfish.
The post was dedicated to mr. 127.XXX not you


"Earl" wrote in message
om...
This post is dedicated to 127.XXX.XXX in an effort to develop
his cultural background.

We first came to Paris to live in 1965-1966 and lived in Montmartre.

The term "Mont" for Mountain is used as such in English, so we native
English speakers understand that Mont Blanc is indeed a mountain.
But when the word if fused with another and becomes a location
we can become confused.

As least I did since I did not conceived of Montmartre as more than
a high hill. Worse, Montparnasse is barely perceptible rise in the
Parisian landscape. I live in Montparnasse and it took me about
20 years to recognize that the streets in my neighborhood slanted.
I only caught on to that with the big metro strike in the early
1990s and the use of bicycles. People coming from certain directions
in our neighborhood had to peddle, and in the opposite direction
coasted. The "mountain" at Parnasse is no biggie.

Other minor mountains exists around Paris, like where the Pantheon
in the 5th. I assume that a Roman temple existed at this spot
at one time. Parc Mont-Souris gives an indication of another hill.

The landscape rises in the east of Paris in the Belleville area.
The hanging platform (gibet) of the Parisian middle ages existed
in Belleville at Montfacuon, which no longer exists by name in the
same area. A picture of a painting of the Gibet itself is on the
front of a classic book by Hillairet, "Gibet, Piloris and Cachots
du vieux Paris". It had about a dozen places to hang people.
They were hung until the rotted off the ropes. The smell of the
rotting executed would some times drift down into Paris when
the winds were blowing in the wrong way, reminding thieves
of their fate if caught for a "major" crime. There are no
statistics on the deterrence effect of the Gibet but judging
by other historical studies, the death penalty has no on
homicide or crime in general.

Anyway, the only Mountain of Paris which presents a climbing
problem for the unexercised is Montmartre. As any guide book
will tell you the Mont was named after Saint Denis who was
martyred around the 4 or 5th century when Christianity was not
popular or powerful. Some of the heathens of the time did
not like the "holier-than-thous" (certainly a lesson for 127.XXX.XXX)
and took to dispatching them (we live in gentler times). The story
goes that they cut his head off at the bottom of Montmartre, he
then picked it up and climbed to the top before really dying.
Certainly a medical first, and last since I have heard of no similar
incidents.

The skeptics of our time (some of us also did not believe in WMDs)
do not believe this story and I am not sure the Church does either.
Early saints were saints for a variety of reasons and some of them were
reclassed pagan deities, or merely "popular saints", uncertified
by the Church. Our own dachshund, Gaston, is named after Saint
Gaston (St Vaast) of about the same period as Saint Denis. Our
Gaston is anything but a Saint, a little devil incarnate.

Of all the mountains of Paris, only Montmartre is worth a real
climbing expedition. During 1965-66 we lived
in Montmartre, although down at the edge near the cemetery
(cimetière de Montmartre) which is just above Place Clichy.

Parisian buffs will remember the name "Clichy" because of
Henry Miller's fictional biography (all biographies are fictional
but Miller tried to make his stories look authentic, a consummate
liar) "Quiet Days in Clichy". Clichy is a suburb town next
to Paris and the 17th. Low rents forced him to live there,
coming to the Place to search for his prostitutes. He frequented
the Café Wepler which is on the Place Clichy, a placed we frequented
too before we had read that Miller had also. It is still there. It is
a large brasserie and one eats there although coffee only is permitted!

Anyway, one way to "climb" Montmartre is walk up Caulaincourt
(off of Place Clichy) about 300 meters and then up rue Junot
which will eventually lead you to the top and the famous
Place du Tertre, which is nearly adjacent to Sacre Coeur.
This latter church is pretty from a distance but more of a
monstrosity up close.

The place before the Church does give a view of Paris. This
view attracts amateur photographers who click, develop and
put aside the photos in some drawer at home never to be
seen again.

The hill top at the Place du Tertre is loaded with restaurants
and is one huge tourist trap. On any sunny Sunday afternoon
the place has the highest density of foreigners in the world.

If one starts out from Place Clichy around 11 AM, one can climb
to the top, see Sacre Coeur, roam the tourist shops and eat
lunch around noon and off the hill by 2PM. Leaving down the rue
du Mont will take you by the only vineyard in Paris and
the famous cabaret "Lapin-Agile". The area on this side
of Montmartre has some individual houses, rare in Paris
(there are also some off the rue Junot). Montmartre
was one a true village town at the edge of Paris so
it retains some of the character.

Another walking route up to the top is walking up the
rue Lepic which begins at the Place Blanche. Rue Lepic
has an open air market in the mornings and just above
it around Abbssess is the café where Amélie (of the film)
worked her charms on the rest of us. There is a old
wind mill somewhere up rue LePic, or used to be.
The hill top was covered with them.

When looking for an apartment to buy at the end of the 1970s
we returned to Montmartre and looked for a place, but found
nothing to our liking. 40 apartment searches later we found something
we are still in.

Anyway, Montmartre is worth a climb.

Earl

PS for mountain climbing materials you can drop by one
of the many Au Vieux Campeur stores in the 5th,
around the rue des Ecoles. They will have regular
walking gear too.