Now this is what I call a church.
Sacre Coeur, or Sacred Heart, is at the top of Montemarte, the highest butte in Paris.
It was at this amazingly glorious spot I learned the most important words in French:
1. Bon jour.
2. Sie vous plais.
3. Merci.
4. TAXI!
Sacre Coeur was my Catholic Mama's all time favorite symbol--the sacred heart of Jesus's mom.
It was essential that Big Sis and I made it up there to light candles and pray for Mama's soul.
Being hardly Catholic anymore, still the grandeur, the spectacle and the priest's velvety French and the old nun's high soprano caused Big Sis and I to fall into each others' arms and cry like babies.
We flung Euros in every direction, lighting candles, buying rosaries, icons, medallions and everything else they had for sale. We even found an ancient old priest in a side room who put his blessing on every doodad we'd bought.
I don't care what religion you are, Sacre Coeur is the churchiest church on the planet. It even made Notre Dame look like a revival tent.
And that's saying something.
3 comments:
Lovely church, and Montmartre (Monmartre?) was charming. I do remember seeing plenty of Frenchmen relieving themselves in the embrace of a tree. Very doggy like.
In the summer (we were there in August, a mistake, since the whole city's on vacation) people gathered before the cathedral to sing together...
About 35 yrs. ago...
I saw the other post first- so yes, SC did touch your heart. I so understand that.
The apartment I booked for the trip that I did not get to take, was minutes away from Sacre Coeur. That church has great, great meaning for me.
You misspelled "Sie vous plais.", but never mind that; how was the Absinthe?
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