Postcards from Paris, No. 5: On the Lookout for Joan of Arc While Plumbing the Depths of the Sacred Heart

Monday, 12:39pm — Paris stretches out before us as we stand atop the terrace of Gallery Lafayette. We peer down at the peasants walking the streets below and laugh heartily whilst thinking on our good fortune.

Our fifth full day in grand ole Paris was the only one we’d left wide open. No timed museum tickets. No Seine River cruises. No Eiffel Tower tours. No four-hour bus rides into the French countryside. Instead, we got to sleep in a bit and then had a solid 12 hours to fill however we saw fit.

For whatever reason, we began the day with a return trip to one of the first places we’d visited all the way back on Day 1: the multi-story shopping mall Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, which, you may remember, was located a mere five-minute walk or so from our home base at Hôtel Chavanel in Paris’ 8th Arrondissement.

Neither of us had any illusions that we’d be swapping out our American threads for an entirely new French wardrobe — it was infinitely likelier that we would walk out empty-handed, in fact — but it can still be fun to look around and do a little window shopping. That’s especially true when the shopping mall in question is as fine a specimen as Galeries Lafayette, a 70,000-square-meter behemoth that opened all the way back in 1912. Even if you don’t give a rat’s patoot about the 3,500+ brands on offer, you can still enjoy the magnificent Art Nouveau glass dome ceiling overhead and the rooftop terrace up top offering panoramic views of the city. There are also several restaurants inside, should you require some fuel while other members of your party wear out their credit cards.

But enough about that. Let’s hear about you. How’s your day going? Are you drinking enough water? Have you had anything to eat? Are you reading this while you’re supposed to be doing something else, like work? That’s all right, everybody needs a little break now and then. Do you feel seen now? Good, good.

I don’t know where I was going with that, but what I can tell you is that after stopping by Galeries Lafayette (and leaving with no less cash money in our wallets than when we entered, as foretold) it was time to unlock a new section of the map.

2:01pm — A jolly fellow armed with a guitar sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the steps of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Montmartre. Judging by the number of coins in his basket, he’s doing just fine — although I see some dunderheaded American tipped him in U.S. dollars (don’t look at me).

That’s right. As the title of this post(card) hints at, we elected to check out the church that sits atop the highest hill in Paris, as well as the area surrounding it, which is known as Montmartre (“Mountain of the Martyr”). The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is considered a “minor basilica” — whatever that means — but try telling that to all of the people that journey there annually, making it one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations. By some counts, it is second only to the Eiffel Tower, though I’m sure the Louvre and other sites would like a word on that subject.

What is the “Sacred Heart”, you ask? That would be the literal heart of Jesus. Okay, okay, not his actual, physical heart, but that which it symbolizes — namely, God’s unending love for mankind. Honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the Catholic devotions, which are a set of customs and practices viewed as supplemental to the fundamental teachings of the church. Other devotions that might be more familiar to the lay person would be things like praying the Rosary or observing/reciting the Stations of the Cross.

So anywho, that’s what’s happening up there on the highest perch in Paris: people praying night and day to this symbol of God’s love. But hey, you don’t have to be religious or spiritual in any way to appreciate the marvel that is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, nor the stunning views of the city right outside its doors (which is visible behind my traveling companion and me in the middle photo of the triptych up above).

(describe the interior style of the church and get into Joan of Arc statue!)

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https://towardbeauty.org/2024/08/07/the-architecture-of-sacre-coeur-in-paris/

https://saint-joan-of-arc.com/paris.htm

https://www.expedia.com/Paris-Montmartre.dx178676

3:33pm — Following our visit to Sacred Heart, I order a rum punch-adjacent beverage at a little restaurant some ways down the hill. For a moment, I’m transported back to a catamaran sailing around the island of Sint Maarten (iykyk (and if you don’t, you can follow that link)).

6:56pm — I finish the last of five postcards I am planning to mail back home to the fam. Because I am a sadist, the messages are all in French (thank you, Google Translate).

8:42pm — The Paris String Orchestra, complete with a Julia Louis-Dreyfus lookalike, breaks out “Ave Maria” about halfway through their performance inside the Church of the Madeleine. Even the statue of Mary Magdalene herself breaks into applause once they’ve finished.