Day 3 Paris is a walk along the lesser-known streets of Paris' hilltop village with its interesting cottages, cobbled streets and panoramic views following AA's suggested walk.
How we got there: Metro to Blache
Exiting the Metro, we were greeted by the Moulin Rouge (as above). First opened in 1889, its vivacious cancan dancers became an immediate hit. The venue still stages shows, now aimed at visitors.
We carried on walking along boulevard de Clichy and turned right into avenue Rachel and carried on to the entrance of the Cimetiere de Montmarte.
The cemetery is built below street level in the hollow of an old quarry and is the final resting place of many famous artists who have lived and worked in the Montmartre area. Inside, we found some interesting mausoleums and tombs, one of them is this brilliant statue of a family patriarch whose closed eyes seem to follow you around as though saying 'I'll always be watching what you're doing'.
We left the cemetery at Avenue Rachel and walked up the steps on the right to Rue Caulaincourt (a flyover). We turned right and walked to the Junction with rue Joseph de Maistre, then turned right and after a few minutes turned sharp left up rue Lepic.
Van Gogh lived at number 54 of this winding road from 1886 to 1888.
We followed the curve and passed through some residential buildings typical of European continental homes with their sash windows and most of them have amazing views of the city below.
We carried on walking until we reached the corner of rue Girardon where Moulin Radet, a wooden pivot-mill that now forms part of a restaurant called Moulin de la Galette.
We turned left into rue Girardon, crossed avenue Junot and entered a pleasant square Suzanne-Buisson on the left.
The square is named after a WWII resistance heroine. The statue is of the 3rd Century bishop St Denis, who was beheaded by the Romans and legend has it that he picked up his head and washed off the blood in a fountain on this spot.
Facing the statue, we turned right and left the square into place Casadesus, in rue Simon Dereure and turned right into the allee des Brouillards. Renoir lived in one of the houses on the left in the 1890s.
We continued towards place Dadida, then up the cobbled rue de l'Abreuvoir, the spires of Sacre Coeur already looming ahead. As the book suggested, we made a short stop at the La Maison Rose (The Pink House) and ordered crepe to share.
We turned left after La Maison Rose and walked down the steep cobbled rue des Saules to the legendary cabaret spot, Au Lapin Agile. Then we turned right along rue St Vincent, past Montmartre's vineyard on the right. We then crossed rue du Mont Cenis and walked uphill to rue de la Bonne. This leads into the hidden-away Parc de la Tulure.
The tranquil park, well off the tourist trail, gives you magnificent views over Paris, as well as an unusual perspective of the Sacre Coeur.
Wandering through the park, we excited onto rue du Chevalier de la Barre and continued along rue de Cardinal Gilbert to the entrance to Sacre Coeur on place de Parvis du Sacre-Coeur.
The Sacre Coeur is a neo-Byzantine basilica which was commissioned as atonement after the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871) and took nearly 40 years to build.
The viewpoint of Sacre Coeur is one of the most popular in the world and has been featured in a lot of movies and videos including 'Truly, Madly, Deeply'.
We left Sacre Coeur by turning right to rue Azais with its stunning views over the city and turned right up rue St Eleuthere to St Pierre-de-Montmartre. We found ourselves in the touristy place du Tertre spawned with cafes and street artists which reminded me of the opening scene of the 2011 Tintin movie.
We left the park through the gift-shop strewn rue Norvins and then turned second left through place Jean-Baptiste Clement. Then we turned right into rue Ravignan, and continued round to the left into the tree-shaded place Emile Goudeau.
On the right of the square is the Bateau Lavoir where Pablo Picasso, Jean Gris and Georges Braque had studios and where Cubism was born. The original ramshackle wooden building burned down in 1970 but has since been rebuilt.
We left the square, walked down a small flight of steps and continued down rue Ravignan until we reached rue des Abbesseses. We turned left here to place des Abessesses where a Christmas market was set up.
As the guide suggested, we took a look (and a photo of) the art nouveau Metro entrance and the unusual facade of the Church St-Jean-l'Evangeliste-de-Montmartre (1904), nicknamed St-Jean-des-Bringues for its profusion of red bricks.
Rain has started pouring by then and we found ourselves inside a cafe for lunch before heading to our next walking trip.
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