Valentine's Day, Scottish festival, and Mom's visit (part 3)

I just happened to find this walking around in Montmartre... 'je t'aime' = 'i love you'

Paris is already a very romantic city, but being here for Valentine's Day, and in one of the most romantic areas in Paris (Montmartre), only made it so much better. The one thing missing for me was my boyfriend, but I'll see him soon because he'll be coming to visit me in March for his Spring Break, so I don't have to wait too much longer.

This weekend there was also a big Scottish festival going on in Montmartre, so we went early to see the parade and the entertainment in the area. Before the parade started, there was a group of people dressed in what looked like medieval Scottish costumes, with their plaids and bagpipes, who were playing music and dancing. There were a couple of guys blowing fire too (and they kept setting their beards on fire by the way).

One of the fire blowers.




Here's a Scot with his prisoner talking to a little girl... :P



Here's a video of them playing music and performing for the crowd.






There was also a rugby match going on that day between France and Scotland for the annual Six Nations championship, which is the oldest rugby tournament in the world, having existed in one form or another for 120 years. Initially the International Championship featured just England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but the competition has expanded twice, with France joining in 1910 and Italy being the most recent addition, in 2000 (I got this info from a British Airways website, and being the good student that I am, that means I feel the need to cite my source). Here are some people showing support for the Scottish team.




This picture is from when my mom was bored while we stopped at a chinese restaurant for lunch.



Here's part of the Scottish parade!!



After we saw all the Scottish festivities, we decided to explore a little more of Montmartre...

Typical little street.




It was quiet on some streets and had a small French town ambiance.



And then we found some street performers! I think this group was a local band because they were promoting their CD that day. I thought about buying one because I thought they sounded really great, but we kept walking and I forgot to go back. But here's a bit of what they were playing...



There's this one tiny square in Montmartre that's bordered by a ton of cafés and which is where all the artists go to sketch portraits of the people who want one and to sell their art. So we decided to enjoy a coffee at one of the cafés and do some people-watching too!
Here we are... me, Monica, and my mom looking lovely!




And here are our coffees!




Here are some of the artists in that square who were sellng portraits.





Here's the view from where we were people-watching.




And of course we couldn't leave Montmartre without seeing the basilica at the top of the hill: Sacré Coeur!


The basilica is located at one of the best spots in Paris because it's at the top of this huge hill, so if you stand in front of it, you can look out and see Paris from a view that to me seems just as good as if you're on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. And the basilica itself isn't that bad either. :)





Here's a view of it from the front. The day we went, there was another realy good street performer playing on the steps in front of the basilica, attracting a pretty big crowd.

The whole area was really romantic; there were spectacular views and music and a festival ambiance, let alone the fact that it was Valentine's Day, so I caught some people who were inspired by the atmosphere...


So cute!!!! :)



Another street performer (try not to mind the girl in the way... you can see the musician better towards the end of the video):



And another... this guy was one of the best of the day, in my opinion. This is the guy attracting the crowd on the steps of the Sacré Coeur, playing his rendition of "Hallelujah":



The whole day was so romantic! What made it extra special for me was that my boyfriend, Hunter, sent my Valentine's Day present to me via my mom, and it truly made my day (the gift had little things that might be insignificant to other people, but in our little couple world, they mean so much!).

Ah, Paris on Valentine's Day... :)

Bisous XOXO