Montmartre

Our guide.

I went on a guided tour of Montmartre, the famous suburb perched on a hill in Paris. Montmartre has been known as an artistic hangout for a long time. It used to be the bohemian place for struggling artists with it's cheap rent and many dives for entertainment. It was also previously on the outskirts of Paris, but the city has grown since then. Our guide was great, he grew up in Montmartre and knew all the history - even pointing out which bakery sold the best baguettes in all of Paris - I got one, and they were indeed tasty baguettes.

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The famous windmill at the Moulin Rouge

Famous artists garret and laundromat!

We wandered past the Moulin rouge, where Henri Toulouse-Lautrec would paint the can-can dancers and celebrities of the day. Then up a winding staircase to a little narrow building, it was a former laundromat with a tiny artists garrett in the top building. This was where Picasso painted one of his most famous paintings - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in 1907. It is still available as artists studios today.

We also wandered past the restaurant (with a beer garden out the back) that Renoir painted some of his famous paintings in.

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The restaurant and beer garden that Renoir painted in.

We kept wandering up towards the top of Montmartre hill. One of the statues was based on a surrealist novel called Le Passe-Muraille about a man who could walk through walls. 

Statue based on surrealist Novel - Le Passe-Muraille

Montmartre vineyard

​We also went past a vineyard that the residents of Montmartre petitioned to keep. There is a very expensive wine made from these grapes.

​We also passed by a famous caberet hall - Au Lapignagile where all the bohemian artists used to party!

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Caberet Hall - Au Lapinagile

Sacre Coeur Cathedral

At the top of the hill is the Scare Coeur cathedral. It is built on the site of an ancient pagan temple (I don't know if anything remains in the foundations of the building). There is a great view from the top of the hill, you can see all the way across Paris.

Just past the Sacre Coeur is the Salvador Dali museum. It is a small gallery but was packed full of Dali's art, including his famous melting clocks.