Name: Montmartre: Saints, Painters and the Commune
SKU: 230

Up and over the hill of Montmartre, from the place des Abbesses to the steps of the Sacré-Coeur, with one question in your pocket: what was the white basilica on top built to atone for? On the way you hear the legend of Saint Denis told as a legend, stand where seven students made the vows that founded the Jesuits, see the tenement where Picasso began Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, the house where Theo van Gogh nearly gave up on his brother, the windmill that carries the name of the dance hall Renoir painted and the cabaret where a donkey painted a picture, learn why the hill was hollowed out, and reach the street where the Paris Commune began with two killings in March 1871. Every claim is sourced, every legend labeled, and the dispute over the basilica is told from both sides.

The stops

Place des Abbesses: The Nuns’ Hill
The Martyrium: A Legend and a Vow
The Bateau-Lavoir: The Laundry Boat
54 Rue Lepic: Two Brothers
The Moulin de la Galette: Flour, Dancing and Renoir
Place Dalida: The Hollow Hill
The Lapin Agile: A Rabbit and a Donkey
Saint-Pierre and the Place du Tertre: The Village Square
Rue du Chevalier-de-la-Barre: 18 March 1871
The Sacré-Coeur: Penance for What?

Finding the start

Start on the place des Abbesses beside the green, glass-roofed métro entrance (Abbesses, line 12; take the lifts up from the platforms). Stand on the square a few meters south of the entrance, with rue Yvonne-Le-Tac leaving to the east.

Terrain and access

About 2.7 kilometers from the first stop to the last, with about 80 meters of climbing in all on steep cobbled streets (up to the place Émile-Goudeau, up rue Lepic, and up rue des Saules, the steepest pull). No steps on the main route, which avoids the stairs of the passage des Abbesses and of the parvis. Narrow sidewalks with some cars; the place du Tertre and the parvis are very crowded. The way down to Anvers station is the funicular (step-free) or about 300 steps. Abbesses station is deep: use its lifts. No admissions; every building is seen from outside.

Tickets

No admissions; every building is seen from outside.

Keep going

Paris After Dark: Bones, Gallows and Alchemists

What you get

An email from [email protected] with a link and an access code.
Use it on your phone or tablet in an up-to-date web browser, no app store needed. There is no account to set up before you start.
Download it on Wi-Fi before you go. After that it works offline: audio, text, map and pictures.
Your booking includes 2 phones, so two of you can follow along, each on your own. Extra phones are $2.95 each, or a group can share one phone on its speaker.
Play, pause and replay every part, skip back and ahead, or change the playback speed. Keep the screen on or tap play at each stop.

How it was made

Every fact in the narration is checked against a cited source, and legends are told as legends. The narration is written from that research. How our tours are made.