According to Urban Dictionary

Boheme - Carefree lifestyle unbounded by convention.

Bohemian - Movement of artist and poets in late 19th century France, especially in Paris. Bohemians believed in living outside of the bourgeois (conventional, middle class) mainstream culture. Bohemians were against the Salon (the institution that controlled the literary and art market in France until the turn of the 20th century)and believed that art and literature should be radical. They often gathered in "cafes" and drank absinthe. Many Bohemians were politically radical, being either anarchists or members of the Commune de Paris during the Franco-Prussian war. The Bohemian movement died out at the turn of the century but had a large influence on later movements such as surrealism, the beat generation, and punk rock.
Toulouse - Lautrec depicted the romanticized life of many Bohemians, although the reality of the life-style was often very difficult and tragic.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Montmartre, Sacre Coeur and Pigalle.

Today Mum and I explored Montmartre we took the metro from my place to Place de Clichy, then walked along Boulevarde Clichy towards the Moulin Rouge where we paused momentarily to take a photo, before starting the climb up the hill. We followed the little street near Metro Blanche up the hill past all the little specialist shops, bouchers, rotisseries, fromageries and poissoniers, not to mention lots of florist. We then stopped halfway up at a row of Cafes and entered one for lunch, where we both had a smoked salmon, prawn and avocado salad before continuing on up the hill. We past the Moulin de la Galette Restaurant and finally made it to the top and the little streets of tourist and painting shops that lead to the Place de Tertre. Here we bought an icecream before heading round the Place de Tertre looking at the art and then continuing on to Sacre Coeur. We went into Sacre Coeur, then took some photos of the view before heading down the loads of steps where we were accosted by African con artists attempting to tie bracelets on our wrists. From here we ventured into the depths of the material market, where we soon surrounded by loads upon loads of fabrics of all varieties. After this we stopped briefly in Rouchouart- Clignacourt at the bottom of the material markets for a very overpriced cool drink before catching a bus to the Tracadero. Once at the Trocadero, Mum saw the Eiffel Tower, finally having been in Paris for five days previously without catching a glimpse of it, then we trundled on home worn out from the busy day of walking. However, our day was not yet done; after a brief respite and cool down at home, we headed out again back to where we had come from to meet M at the Metro Pigalle. Having met up with M, we went down to a nice Italian restaurant called Fuxia in Pigalle, where I had dined last week with L and G. We had a very nice dinner before deciding to head home. On the way we were waylaid; after a phone call with L and decided to meet her and a friend up near Abessess Station, where we went for a drink before eventually arriving home where I am now writing this at 12.30 at night. It was a very eventful and interesting day, with a lot of walking as that is the only way of really getting around Paris. It wouldn't be so bad if not for the heat. As we were heading out again at 7 this evening we caught a glimpse of a electronic thermometer at a pharmacy which said 33 degrees. The heat is becoming unbearable and I am constantly raining; leaving me to wonder why it is that I was craving Summer having had two winters in a row.

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