18 ARRONDISSEMENT    Montmartre 

The eighteenth is far away from the center of the city (expect a 30m ride by Metro) and covers the districts of Montmartre, Pigalle on the border of the 9th and the Goutte d’Or also known as Little Africa.

Montmartre Stairs   By David Martin

SLEEPING

HOTEL PARTICULIER MONTMARTRE  23. avenue Junot. Metro: Lamarck-Caulaincourt.  Situated on the Montmartre hillside, in a quiet passage of rue Lepic, an enchanting building with a private park.  Price range from 290 Euros.

TERRASS HOTEL   12-14 rue Joseph de Maistre. Metro: Place de Clichy. Luxury four star hotel near the Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. Elegant rooms, some with impressive views of the city and a stylish restaurant and bar on the lobby in winter and on the roof terrace in summer.  Price range from 200 Euros.

LE RELAIS MONTMARTRE  6, rue Constance. Metro: Blanche. Small boutique hotel in a peaceful atmosphere. Next to rue Lepic and des Abbesses. Price range 160-200 Euros

HOTEL DES ARTS   5, rue Tholoze. Metro: Abbesses.  Reasonable three star hotel near Sacre-Coeur Basilica.  Price range: 85-160 Euros.

By Bart Howard Everts

FOOD & DRINK

CHEZ CAMILLE  Trendy and friendly small bar for good music and drinks at the top of Montmartre.  8, rue Ravignan.  Metro:  Abbesses.

UN ZEBRE A MONTMARTRE  38, rue Lepic. Metro: Abbesses.  Trendy bar and restaurant, affordable prices.

LE GRENIER A PAIN LES ABBESSES  38, rue Abbesses. Bread bakery.

Rue des Abbesses  By Sergio Calleja

SIGHTSEEING

Most people come to Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the Place de Tertre, the artistic and historic heart of Montmartre, but there are many more special places in this picturesque neighbourhood. Montmartre is set on a hill and on top of it is the Sacre-Coeur Basilica. It has a long history, beginning around the year 55AD, when the first temple was built there. The name comes from the old name “Mont des Martyrs” beacuse it was here where the first martyrs of Paris were beheaded in the 3rd. Century. Years later, the village became a rural setting, surrounded by vineyards and windmills and later, in the early 1880s, Montmartre was home of various artists, musicians, painters and liberal students who hanged about the cabarets, the “grands boulevards” and the café concerts of the neighbourhood, Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec, Degas and Picasso among them.

MONTMARTRE AND PLACE DU TERTRE   Metro:  Abbesses.

SACRE COEUR BASILICA   Place Saint Pierre. Metro: Abbesses. From the metro station you may take the Funicular to the top or either hike up the hill. The Sacre Coeur is a beautiful Roman Catholic church built in 1875 and is worth a visit. From the Dome you will have a beautiful view of Paris, event better than the one from the Tour Eiffel or the Arc de Triomphe. The Basilica is open till 6p.m., but if you stay a little longer, you will also enjoy the view of Paris at night from the steps of the outside, and then turn back, and then you will really feel the magic.

Sacre Coeur  By Sónia Fernandes

SIGHTSEEING   My Special Places

MONTMARTRE VINEYARD  18, rue des Saules. Metro: Lamarck-Caulaincourt.  The last remaining vineyard in Montmartre. The annual grape harvest festival takes place the first week of October.

A walk down along the rue Lepic, avenue Junot and the neighbourhood of Moulin Radet and Moulin de la Galette.
Abbesses. A charming lively quarter downhill from Sacre Coeur.

MUSEE DE l’EROTISME  72, Boulevard de Clichy. Metro: Blance.  Located west of the famous Moulin Rouge, this museum is not a sex museum or just another red light tourist attraction, it holds permanent collections of erotic art from the ancient religious art of India and Africa to contemporary objects, drawings, and photographs.

MUSEE DE LA VIE ROMANTIQUE  16, rue Chaptal. Metro: Blanche.  Situated in a private mansion, former house and studio of the painter Ary Scheffer, in the 9th at the foot of Montmartre hill. The main room is dedicated to George Sand, and in the front courtyard there is a Tea Room which opens in Spring and Summer months.

LA GOUTTE d’OR  Also known as Little Africa, is the neighbourhood between Barbes and Chateau Rouge. Metro: Chateau Rouge. The Dejean Market, an exotic African open air bazar, is located right from the metro station of Chateau Rouge and operates every day except Mondays.

MARCHE AUX PUCES DE ST. OUEN  Metro: Porte de Clignancourt. The Paris most important flea market and the world’s largest, is held on Saturdays,
Sundays and Mondays only.

Goutee d’Or – Chateau Rouge – Paris   By Crikette Guilimaux