Alison

~ Montmartre ~ “An Artist’s Dream”

To live in Montmartre would have been any artist’s dream place to stay. Most lived in hunger and poor accommodation but they were living with hope and passion and wouldn’t be anywhere else. Fuelled by their love of art and the camaraderie of their fellow artists, they struggled on regardless.

It is one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit and so it was on my last day we headed out to walk the cobbled stoned streets and climb many stairs to the top.

We took the metro to Abbesses, one of the most beautiful metro stations in Paris. 144 steps to the top! There were fantastic paintings on every level, I wish I had taken more.

To start with we tried to follow the walking map as to what to see, but soon gave up as everywhere you looked there was something to see or a little alleyway to walk through.

~ Wall of Love ~

A wall dedicated to love in the garden of Square Jehan Rictus. The work of Frederic Baron and Claire Kito, is a meeting place for lovers from all over the world.

Situated outside the Galerie Montmartre, a moving mural with the faces of hundreds of famous people. Can you spot Mona Lisa?

“Love is all around”

I did like the detail in this little critter

By the time we had climbed to the top to look at the The Basilica of Sacre Coeure, the rain had started and as we didn’t bring umbrellas or raincoats, we were forced to buy one. It was well worth the climb to see the astounding views from the top.

My first view of the Basilica, quite awe inspiring after climbing up along those tiny staircases to see this great beauty.

We didn’t venture in as you can see the queues were long! Also I imagine you would need booked slots.

View from the top

Heading back down into the main square and walking very gingerly on these slippery wet cobblestones we agreed it was time for lunch.

La Bonne Franquette
La Maison Rose – The Pink House
Le Consulat
Views down every alley

Inside La Boheme Montmartre with a steaming bowl of French Onion Soup and a glass of chilled white wine.

With so many choices we took pot luck and chose one that looked relatively busy. Deciding to sit inside as it was too chilly and wet for outside (Paris in the Summer, who would have thought!).

There are so many famous buildings and restaurants in Montmartre and have written some potted histories below.

La Maison Rose – The Little Pink House was originally bought by Ramon Pichot in 1905. It was first a painting studio and visited by Pichot’s friends Dali and Picasso. He turned it into a restaurant and painted it pink in 1908. It is believed that La Maison Rose became famous because of Utrillo paintings. But Élisée Maclet (sadly forgotten) painted La Maison Rose and Montmartre long before Utrillo. Source: La Maison Rose

There is much more history on the link above about what has happened to this house over the years.

Le Consulat – Another famous cafe frequented by world renowned artists, Picasso, Sisley, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet. The building dates back to the 19th century. It is still serving delicious home cooked food.

La Bonne Franquette – A 16th century house in the heart of Montmartre. The name was given in 1925 by Francisque Poulot. The motto of this restaurant is “Love, Eat, Drink and Sing”. This is the place where Van Gogh painted the famous “La Guingette”.

We then went looking for the “Man in the Wall”, something I’d never heard of but my friend wanted to see.

Le Passe-Muraille

M. Dutilleul, a fictional character by Parisian writer Marcel Ayme, who discovers he can walk through walls. He uses this power to commit crimes and carry on an affair. On his last visit to his mistress, he suddenly loses this power and becomes immobilised inside the wall.

It seems that this was not well known enough for other tourists as we were the only ones there.

Next up was the Windmill and of course last but not least, Moulin Rouge.

Moulin de Radet
Moulin Rouge

There were once thirty windmills in Montmartre dating back to the 16th century and now only two remain. The other is Blute-Fin. Before Montmartre became a place known for its artists it was just a humble village populated by peasants. The windmill that sits atop the Moulin Rouge is just a tribute and not an active one.

I loved exploring Montmartre and would have liked to wander more, but time was pressing on for me to venture back to Gard du Nord for my trip back to London.

Montmartre is well worth a visit and you could easily spend a whole day here. It’s not easy walking and you would definitely need a good pair of walking shoes!

Until next time!

Linking up with Natalie’s PPAC

32 comments

  1. What a fabulous time you and your friend must have had, Ali. I could spend days in Montmartre just gawking! To walk where the artists walked, and to see all the “love” that the city boasts of would be an absolute thrill. I loved seeing your photos and hearing about your visit – including the food and cafes. Have a wonderful weekend ahead. We are off on another road trip, so we will be out of touch for a while. See you when we return.

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  3. I love this place so much, Ali! We stayed fairly centrally so we walked everywhere and I never saw that amazing Metro station. We did see the guy coming through the wall, though, and we were luckier with the weather the day we were up there. I did go inside Sacre Coeur but that’s 8 years ago now, and everything seems to have become so much busier. I would still love to go back.

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  4. Thank you for the tour and your PPAC contribution, Ali. Your photos bring back fond memories of Paris for me. I have family there and hope to return to visit them soon.

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  5. I really loved this area of Paris- so beautiful and also full of surprises. But I guess that is what comes from such an artistic area 🙂 Love that stairway with the city of Paris painted on the wall and the statue coming out of the wall is so fun!

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  6. One of our favourite areas of Paris, although we did find it had changed quite a bit when we went up there a few weeks ago at the start of our current trip. I love the bohemian spirit which still pokes its head through despite the tourist element. And if you can grab a crepe suzette filled with Grand Marnier then you really do feel part of Paris!

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  7. You seem to have covered a lot of ground even if you didn’t have time to see everything! A shame about the weather however. It really has been crazy in Europe this summer – we’re just back from our four nights in Paris, not too long after your visit, and we had 33 degrees most days ☀ 🥵

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  8. Omg you managed to look at paintings while climbing the never-ending vertical tunnel of Abbesses!!!! I was so in shock of the climb that I didn’t even notice!
    Also, I never knew about the man in the wall, though I lived in Paris for a couple of years and actually worked in tourism! 😳 Quite a post! 😅 I should probably call it a day now 🤪

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