A Walk Through Montmartre (Paris)

Picture this...

An authentic little french village perched upon a butte. Steep cobblestone streets weave their way cutting through tall apartment buildings dotted with endless windows and teeny balconies. Some of the building walls are tastefully decorated with various murals and in the town square, artists are perched over easels, painting cityscapes and fields of flowers.

As you make your way through the square, stopping to sample macarons and pick up your own painting on canvas, you feel like you are in a special part of Paris.  It's romantic and artsy and as pretty as a postcard I guess you could say.  

As you keep walking through towns, you keep climbing higher until you find yourself at the bottom of a steep set of stairs, stairs that will leave you to the highest point in Paris.   From the Sacré-Cœur Basilica viewpoint, you get a one of a kind view of Paris.

Montmartre is famous for its artistic history, the white Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur, and as a nightclub district.  Let's just say we experienced 2/3 of these highlights of Montmartre.  We spent the afternoon walking through Montmartre, stopping in for lunch where Adam at the tail end of our Paris trip.  We also learned a few interesting lessons while visiting this part of France,  like just how different beef tartar is in France  (picture a raw pile of ground beef) and what happens when you are naive enough to open your wallet up in front of gypsies (Philip- he lost about 30 euros).  

If you rather see the village without walking the steep streets, the little train of Montmartre will take you through Montmartre. This 40-minute tour with commentary is an easy way to take in the charm and the authenticity of the village.

I can't sit here and tell you of specific sights, or give you a route of where we strolled and where we sat. We kind of just winged it.  We followed the sidewalks and side streets. We stopped to take in the street art and we sat to enjoy a meal. We didn't do a whole lot in Montmartre besides get a little lost and wander around steep streets, city strolls to soak it all in. So I guess today's post is a little less guide, a little more inspiration, a no plan - plan in the Village of Montmartre.