Artist capturing a city street landscape on Montmartre
Montmartre History Walk with Context Travel
There’s more to Montmartre than meets the eye. To understand this part of Paris it’s a good idea to begin with a Montmartre history walk. It is usual for most tourists (myself included) to pop out of the Métro at Abbesses and head straight up the hill to Sacre Coeur to the highest point in Paris to check out the spectacular views of the city. But if you do, you will miss most of the best parts about Montmartre.
Paris’ highest elevation
On a very clear day you can see for miles and appreciate just how large a city Paris has become. We took our tour with docent Marie Dessaillen on our Context Travel Montmartre History Walk and were quite surprised at the many things we saw and learned in the course of just three short hours.
How Montmartre became an artist colony
Who lived on Montmartre? What was the Impressionist Movement really about and where did the artists hang out? Where did the Cabaret’s come from and why is the Red Windmill (Moulin Rouge) the symbol of the area? All these important questions and more were answered on our fantastic tour. We could spend all day listening to the stories behind the scenes of this great hillside and its rich history. I want to return for another tour to refresh my memory of some of the details I have forgotten already!
Tip:
Choose a day when the sun is shining if you can for a this tour. It was truly amazing to enjoy the uphill, fair paced walk and stop along the way to snap photos of all the historic places. To read more about the history of the La Moulin de Galette, please click here: The windmill of the brown bread.
Please enjoy more sights of Montmartre below. It will wet your appetite to take the tour yourself and see why Montmartre is so special.
The Agile Rabbit Cabaret
All photos property of The Weekend In Paris. Must obtain permission before use.
My ticket for the Montmartre History Walk Tour was gratis, but the opinions are my own and are never compromised.