We can all agree Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain is the most adorable movie ever made. Today we took a walking tour through Montmartre to see the filming locations from the movie. It must have been 80° but I can’t complain. I’ll take the sun over rain any day. We started out at the St Martin canals which is close to our apartment and then walked to the Metro and got off at Lamarck-Caulaincourt station since I was sure that was the highest point so then we could work our way down in Montmartre. Wrong! We ended up hiking up grueling hills and stairs. It’s great for my dress size but my legs are like, I quit! After we made it to the top of the hill, we found a cute train so we hopped aboard for a relaxing tour of Montmartre. We saw everything on my list except visit Monsieur Collignon’s grocery store *so I didn’t dip my hand in a bag of lentils*.

Time to break in my new Saltwater sandals. Could I be any more brighter?!

I dropped off my dress at the cleaners to be pressed.

We popped into American Apparel to find cool sunhat but neither of these worked.

I really wanted to rent bikes for the day but there is no safety seat for Liv. We walked around our neighborhood and found this cute little bagel shop. They were playing old Michael Jackson and there was cute boys so we gave it a try.

Liv ordered a blue donut in honor of National Donut day.

The first stop on our Amelie Walking tour was the Canal Saint Martin where Amelie would enjoy skipping rocks. I failed to collect some so I had to pretend.

I love that the canals aren’t gated so you can sit along the edge and enjoy the green. murky water.

Here’s a typical Parisian water fountain. Still working, despite being built in 1872!

Another fountain, Paris is soo pretty!

We spotted Peter Pan by Invader! He is one of our favorite French street artists.

The second stop was Gare de L’est which is featured heavily in the film. The photobooth where she first sees Nino and the beautiful shot of her sitting on the stairs looking at Nino’s scrapbook.

I love the green hue the film was shot in. Photo booths are my weakness, I can’t seem to walk past one without taking silly photos. They have updated the booths since 2001.

Amelie leads the blind man on a walk while describing the sights to him *one of my favorite scenes* and ends at the Lamarck/Caulaincourt station. Montmartre feels like the hippie part of town. Many artists live in this neighborhood.

Olivia found this awesome cool book store, too bad it was closed. She wanted a French comic book.

We have spent so much time in the flat part of Paris, these hills and stairs were killing me.

We stopped a this tiny square on Rue St. Vincent for a rest.

I adore the city’s many fountains and public squares with benches. In LA, public benches are usually a bed for homeless people.

We spotted this cute train passing us so we asked the driver for directions to take a ride and of course he said at the top of the hill.

This wall may look familiar if you remember the opening scene after the credits.

On this street, rue de Saint Vincent, the first shot of the movie was taken:

“On September 3rd 6:28pm and 32 seconds a blue fruitfly,
capable of 14,670 wingbats per minute, landed on the Rue Saint Vincent in
Montmartre“

When we finally reached the top we were delighted to be greeted by artists. I learned from watching I Love Lucy to not fall for the counterfeit art scam but I wouldn’t mind one day returning to have my portrait painted.

We saw Sacré Coeur Basilica, Montmartre cemetery, Pigalle (the red-light district) and so much more. I was able to jump off the train for five minutes to get a photo in front of the world famous Moulin Rouge which is disappointingly tiny in person. I’m sure it appears better at night when it’s all lit up. The tour guide told us about all the famous people who lived in Montmartre and we even saw Picasso’s old house.

Here’s the place Nicole Kidman used to work at.

I’m no prude but Pigalle wasn’t my cup of tea. Dirty, sleazy and tourisy I didn’t enjoy that part of town. I did pop into a sex shop to buy some nudie postcards to send Aimee and Leslie. The Sex shop Nino worked at was in the area but we didn’t see it.

I love visiting old churches, the more Gothic the better.

According to urban legend, rubbing this dude’s foot is good luck!

There’s that ugly, old radio tower.

At the very top of Montmartre you find the La Basilique du Sacré Cœur.

Stupid, American tourist! Haha, I’m so lame.

Not the scene I expected from the part of the movie when Amelie sends Nino on a hunt for his scrapbook.

Of course Olivia rode the lovely carousel and made a French friend at the playground.

How does this kid run around in the blazing hot sun?

We made our way back to the 10th, Friday night is a popular time for hanging out by the canals, very hipster vibe.

We were pretty hungry by the time we finished so we took the metro to our favorite Indian restaurant. Guess what? Most restaurants close between 3pm and 7pm. We had to wait for an hour but it was worth the wait. The guys told us the nan *flatbread* wasn’t ready yet so we were pretty disappointed but then he magically brought us 2 pieces. So delicious!

All this walking and tours is catching up with me. My thighs feel tighter and I am not so easily out of breath. This is the perfect workout!

Bon nuit!