Sacre Coeur

Long distance shot towards Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur.

Place Emile Goudeau

Place Emile Goudeau, with its Wallace fountain, is a shady atmospheric spot in Montmartre to explore. It adjoins the Bateau Lavoir, the artists studios, where Picasso rented a workshop.

Au Lapin Agile

'Au Lapin Agile' is a famous Montmartre cabaret. It existed in around 1860, as the 'Au rendez-vous des voleurs' which meant 'Where the Thieves Meet'. Later it became known as the Cabaret des Assassins, with its walls decorated with portraits of famous murderers. According to legend, its name relates to the murder of the owner's son in an attempted robbery by a band of gangsters.  

In 1875, the artist Andre Gill painted the sign that suggests its current name (see below). It was a picture of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan, from which the name Au Lapin Agile evolved, meaning the Nimble Rabbit. The Lapin Agile became the favourite spot for struggling artists and writers, including Picasso, Modigliani, Apollinaire, Roman Greco and Utrillo.

Pablo Picasso's 1905 oil painting, Au Lapin Agile helped to make the cabaret world famous, and undoubtedly added to the reputation of its namesake.   

The Lapin Agile operates today largely unchanged and maintains its tradition as an informal cabaret venue. It has also been the inspiration for a 1993 play written by Steve Martin, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which depicts an imagined meeting between Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein at the Lapin Agile.

Renoir's La Balancoire (1876)

Renoir's swing from his 1876 painting, La Balancoire, which is located in the gardens of the Musee de Montmartre. This is a lovely hidden garden not far from all the attractions in Montmartre. It is easy to visualise the images of yesteryear as you sit in this peaceful garden, with the towers of Sacre Coeur in the background. 

Musee de Montmartre

Musee de Montmartre includes studios which were once meeting places and home to many artists, including Pierre-August Renoir, Charles Camoin, Raoul Dufy, Emile-Othon Friesz, Emile Bernard, Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo. Close to the centre of Montmartre, it also has a lovely garden and views over the adjoining vineyard and Paris. The museum is housed in buildings that are three centuries old, the Hotel Demarne and the Maison du Bel Air. The collections of the museum contains paintings, photographs, posters and manuscripts that depict the history and atmosphere of the neighbourhood from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 

Bal du Moulin de la Galette by Renoir

The Bal du Moulin de la Galette (or Dance at the Moulin de la Galette) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is one of my favourite paintings at the Musee d'Orsay. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of a time and a place. It was painted by Renoir in 1876 and is an impressionistic depiction of a Sunday afternoon in the Belle Epoque era, at the original Moulin de la Galette in Montmartre. In the late 19th century, this was a place where working class Parisians would dress up and go to dance, drink and eat galettes into the evening. 

Sacre Coeur

The Sacre Coeur Basilica is a Roman Catholic Church located at the top of the butte of Montmartre. Its white dome is visible in the distance across Paris, as a beacon of Montmartre. With a dome 200 metres above the Seine, it provides a beautiful panoramic view of Paris and is a magnet for tourists. 

View from Montmartre

The panoramic view from Montmartre, at the front of the Sacre Coeur. Montmartre is located on the highest point in Paris, on a 130 metre high hill. To go even higher, you can climb the 300 steps to the dome of the Sacred Coeur basilica. The heights of Montmartre was the site of the revolutionary uprising of the 1871 Paris Commune. During the Franco-Prussian War (which France lost), the French army had stored a number of cannons in a park near the where the Basilica now stands. On 18 March 1871, the French army soldiers tried to remove these cannons but were blocked by the radicalised Paris National Guard, who established a revolutionary government that lasted only two months. 

Le Passe-Muraille or The Walker Through Walls

Le Passe-Muraille is a sculpture in Montmartre based on a character, Monsieur Dutilleul, in Marcel Ayme's 1941 short story, about a man who can walk through walls. Having discovered his special talent, he uses it to secretly visit his married lover. The sculpture, made in bronze, depicts the moment when Dutilleul suddenly loses his power, as he is half way through a wall, attempting to escape from his lover's husband! 

The sculpture is located at the junction of Rue Norvins, Rue Girardon, Rue Orchampt and Avenue Junot, close to where the French author lived. Ayme's story has inspired at least 5 cinematic adaptations, and has also been the basis for a 1997 stage musical. 

For the perfect photo opportunity, why not grab Monsieur Dutilleul's hand and try to pull him through the wall (his shiny hand is evidence of many unsuccessful attempts!).  

Le Consulat, Montmartre

Located in a prominent position on the cobble stoned rue Norvins, Le Consulat would have to be one of the most photographed cafe's in Montmartre. With typical French food and vintage charm, the cafe boasts a famous artistic clientele from a bygone era, including Picasso, Sisley, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet. 

Fete des Vandages, Montmartre

For more than 80 years, the Montmartre Grape Harvest Festival has been celebrating the vineyards and the Montmartre territory. Gastronomic brotherhoods come from all over France and neighbouring countries.

Rue de l'Abreuvoir

Rue de l’Abreuvoir is a much photographed cobblestone lane in Montmartre, known for its quaint village atmosphere and historic sites, including Maison Rose.

View towards Montmartre from the clock at Musee d'Orsay

The clock of the Orsay Museum, a former railway station, provides stunning views over Paris and its surrounds. The clock is an important symbol of both the building's history and Parisian history in general. The elegant design of the clock represents the advanced architecture of the 19th century in Paris. 

La Maison Rose, Montmartre

 

La Maison Rose, or the Pink House, has been serving coffee in Montmartre for over 100 years, to local residents and artists. 

Wall of Love, Montmartre

 

The Wall of Love or Le mur des je t'aime is a love-themed wall of 40 square metres in the Jehan Rictus garden square in Montmartre. The Wall was created in 2000, and has 612 tiles of enamelled lava, with the words 'I love you' written 311 times in 250 languages.

Rue Cortot, Montmartre

 

Rue Cortot is a picturesque street in Montmartre. Of the 20 properties on this street, over a dozen of France’s most famous artists have lived there in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Le Clos Montmartre

Le Clos Montmartre or the Vineyard of Montmartre is a hidden gem located not far from the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. The Vineyard is owned by the City of Paris and was created as part of an attempt to protect a section of Montmartre from real estate developers. The Vineyard is celebrated each year in a grape harvest festival (called La Fete des Vendanges), which attracts about 500,000 people annually. Its location on a sloping plot means that it can be seen from adjacent streets, along with the city landscape. Amazingly, the small plot, of only 0.15 hectares produces 27 varieties of wine and about 1700 bottles of wine

Moulin Rouge

The Moulin Rouge was founded in 1889 and is best known as the birthplace of the modern form of the can-can dance. When it first opened it was an outdoor garden cafe-concert, which aimed to cater for the very rich, allowing them to 'slum' it in a fashionable district. It was an extravagant setting with gigantic elephant's adorning the garden. It provided a place for all walks of life to mix, including workers, local residents, artists, business men, elegant women and foreigners.