Montmartre – You Stole My Heart
Did you know that there are 20 distinct neighborhoods in Paris referred to as arrondissements? They are laid out like a snail shell with the first neighborhood inside the snail shell labeled Arrondissement Une or 1er. This first neighborhood is the geographical center of Paris and this is where the Louvre is located. Each district has its own unique monument, unique vibe and unique demographic. For example, District 2 is the business district and houses the stock exchange. It is a shopping destination and is loaded with trendy boutiques.
District 3 – Picasso Museum and 17th century mansions – breathtaking!
District 4 – Marais and Hotel de Ville – this is the LGBTQ center of Paris and has great restaurants and a vibrant, fun-loving vibe. We ate lunch here in the pouring rain and had a blast!
District 5 – The Latin Quarter – this is where we first stayed at Villa Parthenon, right next to the world-famous Sorbonne. This quarter is lively also. Notre Dame holds court here as does Lily’s favorite bookstore “Shakespeare and Company”.
District 6 – Saint Germain is the most expensive neighborhood in all of Paris. We rode through this “hood” on our sidecar tour. It was very much like looking at the homes in Lands End in San Francisco. The kind of home you look at and wonder “what do you do for a living to afford this?!”
District 7 -Our home! And the home of the Eiffel Tower.
But it was District 18, otherwise known as Montmartre, that stole all of our hearts. So much so that on our last day in Paris, that we referred to as the “Highlight Reel”, and allowed ourselves to choose whatever we wanted to see again or hadn’t done and wanted to still do or see, Laura’s first choice, without hesitation, was to get back to Montmartre. Here are a few reasons why:
Montmartre is a small village on a hill overlooking all of Paris. Its streets are hilly, narrow and paved with cobbled stones.
Every inch of Montmartre is a treat for the eyes. If I chose to live in Paris it’s the 18th District or bust! This arrondissement feels like the Paris of my dreams.
One of my favorite spots in Montmartre is “La Maison Rose” – an adorable pink cafe perched on the top of a hill in this picturesque village. The cafe has been serving coffee for over 100 years now. It was built in the 1800s and it’s architecture has changed very little over the years.
“La Maison Rose” has been home to some of the world’s most famous artists. It was here that the likes of Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Picasso, Salvadore Dali and Maurice Utrillo sipped coffee in the morning and swilled booze at night. Many of these artists have brought La Maison Rose to life with their pens or their paintbrushes.
The original owners of “La Maison Rose” were a couple: Laure Germaine and Ramon Pichot. Picasso’s closest friend apparently fell in love with Laure Germaine while he and Picasso would spend hours at “La Maison” and he became so smitten with Laure that when she would not respond to his repeated advances towards her, nor listen to his proclamations of true love, he committed suicide. It was this act of suicide by his closest friend, that threw Picasso into a deep depression that in turn gave birth to Picasso’s series of paintings known as “The Blue Period”.
And if that isn’t enough fabulous history – Pinchot steps into the picture also. It turns out that Ramon Pinchot discovered a young artist, living in Montmartre who was only 10 years old at the time and impressed Pinchot so much that Pinchot took the young boy under his tutelage and mentored him. That young boy was Salvadore Dali! So many creators have been drawn to this small, pink cafe. I wish I could have walked inside to see what they saw, smell what they smelled, eat what they ate, but alas, that is apparently meant to happen at another time.
Sacre Coeur or “Sacred Heart Church” holds court at the top of the hill in Montmartre and overlooks the city of Paris below. We had a magical moment here in the early morning when there was no one on the streets except Lily, Laura and myself (and this random villager) and as we approached the church, we heard the most beautiful sounds of a Parisian street musician playing his guitar and singing Ave Maria. His song followed us the entire time that we walked the perimeter of the church and stayed with us as we stood on the steps overlooking the city. We were all enraptured. It was heavenly and sacred. We will never forget that moment in time.
Once fortified, it was time to continue exploring so we headed down the hill to the city center.
We spent hours touring Montmartre and then stopped at one of our favorite cafes for some more treats. “BiBiche” is hands down one of the most classic French brasseries we have yet to see. Take a look!
While enjoying our cheesecake we convinced Lily that she needed to be more “Parisian” and we dared her to get a Parisian haircut right in Montmartre. Lily accepted the dare, took the chair, and came forth from the salon with “fringe”! Fringe is how the French refer to “bangs”. I love the new cut! Tres chic Lily! Tres chic!
The famous Moulin Rouge is also a popular spot in Montmartre although I have to admit that seeing the Moulin in person was underwhelming. It was akin to viewing the Mona Lisa live and in person, it’s so much smaller than I expected. I figure the real magic must be happening inside and I tried to book us a seat to a show but to no avail. Every single show, every single day is booked for the next two months = another reason to return. And another reason for you to not do as I do but do as I say and “book in advance whenever you can”.
As I close out this post I want to emphasize that no trip to Paris is complete without a visit to Montmartre. It’s best to go there and simply get lost wandering the streets. Every turn you take is filled with surprises and unparalleled charm. Take a look at what we found when we walked down the staircase towards our AirBnb!
Bonsoir mon amies! Tomorrow is another big day! We head to The Louvre and to the Palace of Versailles. Then, sadly, it almost time to say goodbye…
