A Walking Tour of Artistic Montmartre, Paris

The beautiful Montmartre is situated high up on a hill in Paris in the 18th arrondissement on the Right Bank. Practically every artist or writer that you can think of, French or otherwise, once resided here. It's a delightful area to take a walking tour in!

Montmartre derives its name from the martyrs who died here in the name of their religion, which includes the patron saint of France, Saint Denis, who was once the Bishop of Paris.

Moving on to more artistic things, the first stop you make in Montmartre should be Le Bateau-Lavoir. This was an area where many famous artists once resided in and/or had their studios. Pablo Picasso lived here and had his studio from 1900-1904 and it was here also that he discovered cubism and painted his famous Les Demoiselles d'Avignon painting. Writers that lived or had studios here include Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean Cocteau and Alfred Jarry. Le Bateau-Lavoir's painters included Henri Matisse, Maurice Utrillo and Georges Braque. It's an area that lives and breathes history, and it's wise to pick up a good guide book that will tell you stories of the place and give you dates that things happened such as the story of how in 1908 Picasso had a huge celebration here for Henri Matisse.

If you're interested in the founder of Dada, Tristan Tzara, you can find his house in Montmartre. Most artist homes don't have plaques outside them, so you have to look carefully if you're interested in tracking down where people once lived. Tzara lived along Avenue Junot at house No. 15. Maurice Utrillo lived at No. 11 from 1926 to 1937. Max Ernst lived at 75 Rue Lepic and Vincent Van Gogh lived nearby at 54 Rue Lepic. If you want to see where Picasso had his very first studio in Paris, look no further than 49 Rue Gabrielle.

One place you won't be able to miss in Montmartre is Place du Tertre. Close to Sacre Coeur, it's a large square where artists work hard to make a living by painting and sketching portraits of passers-by. If this doesn't interest you, bypass it and head to Espace Salvador Dali, a brilliant museum housing 330 of his works and complete with a surreal display of interesting lights and Dali's voice piped through the museum.

If you get the urge for a snack, look no further than No. 2 Rue de l'Abreuvoir. This was the subject of a painting by Utrillo and is a small pink house that serves crepes and other snacks and is now called La Maison Rose.

Whatever you decide to see in Montmartre, there's really no end to your adventures!

Sources: http://www.googobits.com/articles/p3-1844-the-artistic-legacy-of-montmartre.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/48-hours-in-montmartre-581585.html
http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=479&p=3
http://www.monument-paris.com/place-du-tertre.htm