LH Franz After the museum, mom went back to the hotel while I visited Montmartre. I had planned to walk to Place du Tertre, and headed in that direction, passing by the “Mur des je t’aime,” an art installation of tiles in a nearby garden, featuring the words “I love you” in hundreds of languages and scripts. I then made my way up several sets of staircases and a street on an almost-vertical hill, finally arriving at the square.
Place du Tertre was lined with eateries. Tourists jostled for space among the dozens upon dozens of professional artists that were set up along the square, drawing portraits on the spot for €60. I stopped to watch one as they worked, the artist skillfully filling in the planes of light and shadow along the subject’s collar. It was mesmerizing.
Leaving behind the crush of buskers and tourists I moved to some picturesque side-streets. An odd sculpture caught my eye: A bust of a woman with long hair and a strong jaw. Her breasts were included in the statue, which I found unusual. The plaque on the statue’s base said: “Yolanda Gigliotti, Dite, DALIDA, Chanteuse Comedienne, 1933-1982.” She was a famous singer who died before I was born.
The statue was made of bronze, but her breasts were shiny and gold, where people had rubbed the patina away. It struck me as both a symbol of the honest pursuit of pleasure that I’ve come to associate with France, and a slightly dehumanizing thing to do to a dead woman’s statue. While I sat in a nearby bench, looking for places nearby where I might be able to get a drink and use a bathroom, a French tourist group came down the sidewalk, led by a man holding a small guitar. They were too far away for me to hear clearly, but I heard the tour guide speaking as the tour group crowded around the statue in a semi-circle. Then he started to play the guitar, and the whole group sang a song in French. One of Dalida’s songs? After they were done, the guide put his guitar away, and the group continued along.
After some more strolling around, drinking in the atmosphere, I headed back to the hotel.
