Montmartre
The little village in the big city, home of the artists
Montmartre is naturally unusual. The streets are a little windier, the people are a little weirder and the houses a little more crooked. It’s all part of the magic in this neigborhood.
With its cobbled streets, the stunning Basilica Sacré-Cœur, artists, bistros ... Montmartre is full of charm! Perched on the top of a small hill in the 18th arrondissement, the most famous Parisian district has lost none of its village atmosphere that appealed so much to the artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. A real melting pot of art and inspiration for the cinema, Montmartre still gives as much pleasure to the people who live there as well as the tourists.
The neigborhood
Part of the 18th arrondissement, Montmartre is inhabited by a healthy mix of nationalities and generations and this diversity is reflected in the differing character of its various small neighborhood. Framed to the south by the boulevards Rochechouart and Clichy, with neon light, bars, home to the famous Moulin Rouge and other smaller cabarets and nightclubs of Pigalle, Montmartre extends up and over the hill, via Rue Lepic, to the tranquil, affluent, mainly residential Lamarck-Caulincourt area on the other side.
Over the last eight years or so, the Parisian district known as SoPi, South Pigalle in the connecting 9th arrondissemant, has seen a gradual evolution from a somewhat seedy and sleepy residential area bordering the red light district into one of the hippest neighborhood of Paris. This movement is proving to be more than a passing trend thanks to a steady stream of inventive restaurants, contemporary cafés, and original shops.
The little village in the big city, home of the artists
At Place du Tertre the folklore is in full swing, between the restaurant terraces and asels belonging to the artists who share 140 spaces, giving 1 m² for two artists working alternately. But the village's historical square is definitely worth seeing, where dozens of professional drawers and cartoonists will be delighted to spend a moment with you!
In a nutshell, it would seem that Montmartre has been a base, at one time or another, for almost all of the famous artists and writers who have lived in France over the last century. And that's no exaggeration! By the end of the 19th century, all kinds of creative people had swarmed to the area. And by the turn of the 20th century, Montmartre had become the centre for all artistic and intellectual life in Paris.
If you are a fan of art history, the list of famous artists who took inspiration from Montmartre is long: Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre Brissaud, Alfred Jarry, Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Henri Matisse, André Derain, Suzanne Valadon, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Maurice Utrillo, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani to name but a few ! Probably the last of the bohemian Montmartre artists was Gen Paul, who died in 1975.
In the early 1900, Montmartre in the northern part of Paris was the coolest artist hangout in Europe. Pablo Picasso lived round the corner during the area’s heyday known as the Belle Époque. Later this was also the neighborhood for artists like Édith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel, Dalida and many more. Today the area is very popular with tourists, frequently used in movie backdrops and a desirable place to live for locals. Property prices continue to increase and recently the private homes in Avenue Junot and Villa Léandre have become the latest centres for the arts, film and theatre communities.
Welcome to our neighbourhood
Discover the incomparable charm of the Montmartre district and its history, art, people, museums, restaurants, Sacré-Coeur, artists, vineyard, windmills and so much more!
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