Paris walking tour: montmartre

Montmartre is a village on a hill in Paris, which makes the walking visit a bit physiqual, since you will need to climb stairs and mounting streets.


A- Place des Abbesses

If you're coming by metro, start the visit At Abesses and on your way out admire the beautiful Métro entrance at designed by Guimard in 1900, one of the most beautiful examples of the Art Nouveau style found in the city. Abesse is the deepest Métro station in Paris going 36m deep.

With your back to the Métro, turn right and cross Place des Abbesses. Go along Rue des Abbesses and turn up Rue Ravignan, which leads to tree-studded place Emile-Goudeau.

B- Le Bateau-Lavoir

This building, known as the cradle of cubism, was given the nickname Le Bateau-Lavoir by the poet Max Jacob, who noticed a line of washing when he came here for the first time. Picasso lived at the Bateau-Lavoir in the early 1900s and started there his first cubist paintings.

Continue up the hill along Rue Ravignan. Turn left into Place Jean-Baptiste-Clément and go up the hill. Here Rue Norvins, St-Rustique, and des Saules collide. Take Rue Norvins and turn right down rue Poulbot.

C- Espace Dalí:

The Dali museum features 300 original Dalí works, including his famous 1956 lithograph of Don Quixote. Open daily from 10am to 6pm.

Rue Poulbot cross Place du Calvaire

D- Place du Calvaire

This square offers one of the most beautiful views of Paris, and the gardens around along Rue du Calvaire is typical of the former rural side of Montmartre.

E- Sacré-Coeur

The Roman-Byzantine style basilica marks the Paris skyline with its colossal proportions. Despite pollution, the church remains white, thanks to the Souppes stone with which it was built. Resistant as granite, it exudes calcite when it comes into contact with rainwater.

Facing the basilica, take the street running along the left-hand side of the church (rue du Cardinal-Guibert); then turn left onto rue du Chevalier-de-la-Barre and right onto rue du Mont-Cenis. Continue along this street to rue Cortot, then turn left.

Turning your back on the view, walk along Rue du Calvaire Place de Tertre

F- Place du Tertre

This old square is always packed with tourists. You'll find there La Mère Catherine at no. 6, one of the oldest restaurants in town and it is said that it was here that the word bistrot was first nvented. On March 30, 1814, a group of Russian soldiers were eating here and demanded a drink, "bystro" (which means "quick" in Russian). Thus, bistrot came to refer to a restaurant where you could get a quick bite to eat.

Turn right off the square on Place Jean Marais to St Pierre Church

G - St-Pierre Church
Consacrated in 1147, this church, along with St-Germain-des-Près, is one of Paris's oldest buildings. The current facade dates from 1775, and the three bronze doors that represent the three patron saints of the Church -- Saint Pierre in the center, Saint Mary is on the right, and Saint Denis on the left -- were added in 1980.

From St-Pierre, turn left and then right into rue Azaìs to reach musée Montmartre.

H- Musée Montmartre

Musée Montmartre (tel. 01-49-25-89-37; www.museedemontmartre.fr) presents a collection of mementos from the neighborhood, and retraces the history of the area from the Abbey through the Paris Commune and into the 20th century. Great artists such as Duffy, van Gogh, Renoir, and Suzanne Valadon and her son, Utrillo, occupied this house at the end of the 19th century, and it was here that Renoir put the final touches to his famous Moulin de la Galette. Open Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 6pm.

From the museum turn right on rue Cortot. Make another right onto Rue des Saules. On your right you'll see:

I- Montmartre vineyard

The Benedictine Abbey that was founded in Montmartre in the 12th century encouraged the plantation of vines. Two centuries later they covered the hills of Montmartre, and wine remained one of this area's main sources of income until the 19th century. This vineyard was planted in 1933 to oppose construction that had been planned in the neighborhood. It produces gamay and pinot noir grape varieties and a grape-harvesting festival called la Fête des Vendanges, is held in Montmartre every October.

At the intersection of Rue des Saules with rue St-Vincent is one of the most visited and photographed corners of la butte. Here, on one corner, sits the famous:

J- Au Lapin Agile

This villagelike house opened as a cabaret in 1860. Owned by the Sals family, it was known as the Cabaret des Assassins. Madame Sals was an excellent cook, renowned for her lapin gibelotte (rabbit casserole). Around 1800, the satirical artist André Gill created a sign featuring a rabbit jumping out of a casserole dish, brandishing a bottle of wine (you can see the original in the Musée Montmartre). The cabaret was given the name Le Lapin à Gill, after the artist, which gradually became Au Lapin Agile. All of the Montmartre artists used to come here to sing and play the guitar, including Picasso, Utrillo, Braque, Modigliani, Apollinaire, and Jacob.

Turn left on rue St-Vincent. At Place Constantin-Pecqueur climb up the stairs. Go straight ahead along Rue Girardon. At the junction with Rue Lepic is the:

K- Moulin de la Galette

This windmill is known as the Moulin Radet, and is now part of a restaurant. Around the corner on Rue Lepic is the Moulin Blute Fin. Built in the 17th century, these windmills were used to produce flour until the late 19th century, when they became dance halls. People came to sing, dance, and eat galettes (a type of crepe), and as a result each of the windmills became known as a Moulin de la Galette. It was the Blute-Fin that was immortalized in oil in Renoir's Le Moulin de la Galette (the painting is now in the Musée d'Orsay). Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh, Picasso, and Utrillo were also regulars at the dance halls.

Turn right onto rue Lepic (the Blute-Fin is opposite no. 88) and continue to no. 54. From 1886 to 1888, van Gogh lived here with his beloved brother, Theo. It was during this period that he first discovered Impressionism. Follow the street as it winds down the hill toward the Boulevard.
Less