The Highest Point of Paris – Basilique du Sacre Coeur

Paris Sacre Coeur Basilica, or known as The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, right on the highest point, the mount of Montmartre in Paris. This church started construction in 1875 and finished in 1914.

We walked to the church after our breakfast at Amelie’s Cafe nearby (link here), and it was a lovely stroll in the artsy Montmartre neighbourhood, although we took a longer route just to avoid the scammers gathering at the foothill of the church. This place is very famous known for the “Friendship Bracelet Scam” or the “Paris String Scam” whereby the conman will try to tie a string/bracelet onto your hand and demand for money in order to get rid of them. We successfully avoid those gang coming down from the main staircase by following a big tourist group. So my tip is not to travel alone or in a pair to avoid being scammed here.

Other than the scam going on which we witnessed happened to other tourists, we quite enjoyed our visit to this church. It has a nice view of the Paris city (which is generally flat), and there were some small performances along the staircase which made the place very lively on a weekday morning. We also explore the inside of the church, which is opened to the public for viewing without charge.
Do you know that with more than 11.5 million visitors (tourists and pilgrims alike) every year, the Sacre Coeur Basilica is France’s second most visited church after Notre-Dame Cathedral?

The crowd at Sacre Coeur

Inside Sacre Coeur

One of the largest mosaic in the world with Jesus out-stretching arms

The main staircase down the hill where the scammers gathered at the bottom

The one and only Sacre Coeur

 Address: 35 Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018 Paris, France