Montmartre

Located in the 18th district and overlapping into the municipality of Saint-Ouen, Montmartre, with its famous Sacré-Coeur basilica at the top, is the highest point in Paris. Artists such as Pissarro, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Modigliani and Picasso made this populous area famous, also known as "the village", which is particularly charming due to its tiny houses tucked away in the greenery, its springs, its vines that are still harvested, and its steep, shop-lined streets such as the Rue Lepic, where one finds the Moulin de la Galette.

Once an independent borough, Montmartre was a place where Parisians came to dance and have fun. It is now one of the most visited tourist areas of Paris, treating walkers to its picturesque scenes, along with pubs, bar-restaurants and café-theaters. The Montmartre Museum, on Rue Cortot, exhibits many posters, as well as artistic and cultural reminders of yesteryear. The Concorde Opéra Hotel, located nearby, welcomes visitors into a haven of quiet after they have walked up and down the Hill, from the Place Blanche to the Place du Tertre, including via the Place des Abesses. The cog-railway, inaugurated in 1900 and later rebuilt, offers walkers a respite from the Hill's many stairs which, as in the song by Jean Renoir, are hard on the downtrodden.