The Original Bohemian 'Hood

A stroll through the Montmartre district of Paris

 

The steps in front of the Basilica du Sacre Coeur in Monmartre make for an excellent spot to take in the sunset over the city of Paris.

One thing's for sure: La Bohème it ain't anymore. Although inundated by tourists these days, Montmartre, an old artists' neighborhood crowning a hill at Paris's northern edge (the 18eme), still has an intriguing village flavor and remains one of the best Parisian areas to wander.

Its southern slopes are familiar to anyone who enjoyed the film Amèlie, its crest is a cobblestoned village once popular with down-and-out Impressionists and now crawling with tourists, and the whole of it is crowned by the confection of the Sacre Coeur basilica.

The Abbesses Métro stop is in Montmartre itself, but get off one stop early at Pigalle. Here you're on the northwest edge of Paris's red light district here, centered on the sex shop–lined boulevard de Clichy, which features hangers-on like the Moulin Rouge at no. 87 (tel. +33-(0)1-53-09-82-82; www.moulinrouge.com) with its can-can shows, and the surprisingly quasi-tasteful Musée de l'Erotisme (Museum of Eroticism) at no. 72 (tel. +33-(0)1-42-58-28-73; www.musee-erotisme.com), which is open 10am to 2am.

Work your way uphill to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur (there's a funicular to save you the steep stairs; cost: one Métro ticket), a frosty white neo-Byzantine basilica built from 1876 to 1919 and towering over the city. Climb the dome for a vista that on clear days extends 35 miles. » Full Story

Some of Montmartre's quirkiest sights include a pair of windmills, visible from rue Lepic and rue Girardon, and Paris's only vineyard, on rue des Saules. Next door to the latter, at rue Saint-Vincent 12, is the Montmartre Museum (tel. +33-(0)1-46-06-61-11; www.montmartrenet.com/museemon.html), dedicated to the neighborhood in a house that was at times occupied by van Gogh, Renoir, and Utrillo.

Pay your respects to the writers Stendhal and Dumas, the composers Offenbach and Berlioz, and the painter Degas at their graves in the Cimitère de Montemartre on avenue Rachel.

Finish the evening at 22 rue des Saules in Au Lapin Agile (tel. +33-(0)1-46-06-85-87; www.au-lapin-agile.com)—in Picasso and Utrillo's day called Café des Assassins—Paris's most famous foremost spot for traditional folk music, and where you're almost guaranteed to hear, at least once, an accordion and piano rendition of La Vie en Rose while sitting around the edges of a dark, wood-panelled back room with a tiny, over-priced drink surrounded by other grinning tourists. Cover, including first drink, is a steep €24.

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