The final stop on my tour of Montmartre was the beautiful Sacré-Cœur Basilica. It's one of the most popular sites in Paris and droves of people visit every day. Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, translates to Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As someone who has Catholic parents that planned trips specifically to visit churches and basilicas, I've seen my fair share of religious monuments. Sacré-Cœur was definitely a stunner with the most beautiful facade. The walk there was quite lovely and I was hoping that there wouldn’t be too many people there, but I was unfortunately mistaken. It was a beautiful Summer Sunday, so I should’ve known better. The line snaked all around from the doors, across the street and to the top of the stairs. We had so much planned that first day, so we opted to skip out on the inside. I'm a bit bummed we didn't get to go inside, but it's okay because the outside and surrounding areas were beautiful.
The one thing that really ruined the vibe was dudes aggressively hawking bracelets. They were stationed in groups all over the hill. They would go up to unsuspecting tourists holding the ends and tying them onto their wrists. Obviously it was a scam and they would harass people until they paid them. That kind of thing really annoys me and at times. Even though we didn't make eye contact, the would still come up to us. I would get really aggressive back and just say “no” really loudly. It stinks that these sort of people and scams exist, but it’s all about being aware and just avoiding it. So, if you ever make it over to the Sacré-Cœur, just avoid the shady dudes with string!
