Quartier Caulaincourt Montmartre

[Laidback]

The Caulaincourt quartier of Montmartre is large, going from the western boundary with the 17th arrondissement to the railroad tracks on the East and from the junction with the 9th & 10th arrondissements at the southern boundary to the Ordener/Poteau market area to the North. This includes most of the sites one associates with Montmartre.

maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=48.89006,2.341332&spn=0.0114,0.026436&z=15

My favorite area is the North slope, just beyond the tourist crush of Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre, so this is where we will start. The apartment we rent is on Rue Caulaincourt at the intersection with Rue des Saules



just E. of the metro Lamarck- Caulaincourt which you can see here, looking down from Caulaincourt to Rue Lamarck

This is the center of our immediate neighborhood with a news kiosk, good café/restaurant, Le Refuge, across the street on Lamarck and another, Chez Ginette, just up the stairs on Caulaincourt. On our corner there is a boulangerie/patisserie, excellent fruit and vegetable stand



as well as a red label butcher, wine store, pharmacy, “7-11” type grocery store and presse. It is a very convenient spot for a long stay in a Parisian neighborhood just off the guidebooks’ tourist trails.

Walking to the West, the next street on the left takes you to the tiny cemetery St. Vincent which has a view of Sacre Coeur



and is interesting to me because of the grave of Marcel Aymé, who wrote “Le Passe-Muraille” who we will see a little later on our walk.

.

This quarter is one of the most hilly in Paris with endless stairs, so your choices on foot are the most direct route, which requires good lungs and legs, or the more round about route which will be longer as the crow flies but perhaps easier. We have tried to figure out how to get to a destination by going downhill the most direct route and returning either the long way home or using the buses available or a combination depending on the destination.

If we continue on to the West on rue Caulaincourt it is an easy slightly downhill walk all the way to the Montmartre cemetery, where the real Truffaut along with Degas, Berlioz, Dalida, Sacha Guitry, the Camondos, father and son, Dumas, etc. all lie in repose. Another couple of hundred yards brings you to its’
termination at the bustling Place de Clichy. Along the way you will pass many unique little cafés such as Au Reve on your right at #89, featuring Elyette,one of the true characters of the neighborhood, and bistros such as Le Maquis at #69 on your right, Le Cepage at #65, where you can have fresh oysters on the weekends, and Le Café Qui Parle on the left at the corner of Rue Tourlaque, which you can find in the restaurant threads. Here you can find a much more detailed stroll along Caulaincourt, detailing places used By Simenon in his Inspector Maigret novels..

Let’s pause this walk for now and I promise to take it up again with the Poteau market, vineyard, Lapin Agile, etc. if there is enough interest.

[annettecinca]

Thanks for the walk, LB! Your apartment building looks lovely, and the neighborhood sounds really convenient. We stayed at a hotel overlooking the Montmartre cemetery once, and I'd look out the window and think "today we will walk thru it"...but we never did. Now I'm kicking myself, as I didn't know so many interesting people are in there. The Camondo plots particularly interest me now that I've been to "their" museum.

Love that apartment! I just looked at the photos, and the ceiling in the bedroom is gorgeous!

[ouiparis]

Yes, there is interest! Please continue.

[GitteK]

I have no personal photos, so you'll have to make do with internet copy-pasted ones.

This is how I love to come to the north side of La Butte - and if you are not all that familiar with Montmartre or have only previously experienced it as a horrible "Torremolinos of Paris", this is also a route I would recommend to make you love the village as I do.

(note:
You can add as much as you like to this walk, e.g. the north-eastern side of La Butte is also very very lovely: if you face Sacré Coeur, then go to the right and then down the stairs Rue Maurice Utrillo to the most pittoresque petite square in all of Paris. Then go up Rue Paul Albert untill you reach Sacré Coeur again. remeber to peep down Passage Cottin. Almost no tourists find that walk, even if it is so close to the beaten paths of the buscrowds !)



The route contain some of my personal highlights:

Start at Place Blanche - look at Moulin Rouge. Do NOT waste your hard-earned money on a show there - EVER !
Go uphill on Rue Lepic which to me is the true gateway to Montmartre. Here you find numerous take-aways, greengrocers, cafés etc. Also Café des Deux Moulins known from the Amélie movie.

Do NOT miss Montmartres own petit neo-gothic "chateau", which you'll find by turning left into Rue Cauchois, turn right into Rue Constance and then left into Impasse Marie Blanche : the most adorable, quirky out-of-the-way alley with auto repair garage and all. The "chateau" is at the bottom of the alley on your righthand side.




Retrace your steps to Rue Lepic and turn right into Rue des Abbesses - the main street in this area. Filled with lively cafés, bakeries and foodshops.
Turn left into Rue Ravignan (VERY much uphill ).

Huff and puff your way up to the airy and leafy Place Émile Goudeau where Picasso had his studio. And enjoy the spectacular view !


There is a hotel in the square which offers topfloor panorama rooms. The below photo is taken from one of those rooms (according to a guest review in VirtualTourist). www.timhotel.com/hotels/vf/montmartre.html


Rest on the bench, or better yet: have a pre-lunch snack and a glass of wine in the bistrot terrrace, and then huff-and-puff your way up to Place J.B. Clément !

Continue north on Rue des Saules to La Maison Rose, a favorite watering hole of the Montmartre painters.


Take detour downhill to see: Vineyard and the famous cabaret Au Lapin Agile




Climb back up again to La Maison Rose

- - - if you want to visit the Montmartre Museum you now turn left into Rue Cortot - - -
www.museedemontmartre.fr/ OBS! Closed Mondays.

If not, you just turn right into Rue de l'Abreuvoir - also known from the first movie in the cult DVD "Paris, je t'aime"


Continue to Place Dalida. Dalida was some kind of singer, AFAIK.


Cross over to the narrow pedestrian path Allée des Brouillards.
Look at artists' ateliers/studios in Rue Simon Dereure.
Float out into GORGEOUS Avenue Junot , rightly called: Les Champs Élysées de Montmartre, as it is the most fashionable address to have in this part of town. BTW, here is one of my options for 2009, a new studio adopted by Gail: perfectlyparis.com/Prestigious%20Junot%20Studio.html

Turn left and then right after about 100 meters into the secret gem, not to be missed, although I think that many tourists never find their way here. Villa Léandre . I have been there 3-4 times and have always had it to myself.


Back to Avenue Junot, turn left + follow street downwards. Turn right into Rue Caulaincourt, follow street, enjoy neighbourhood ! As Laidback rightly states, this is a delightful area, authentic Paris as it should be.
Turn left into to Rue Pierre Dac (stairs going down)


At the bottom is metro Lamarck-Caulaincourt. Here you can also catch the little Montmartrobus which takes you up and down La Butte for as long as you wish !
www.ratp.info/orienter/cv/cartebus.php?partenaire=
(click on the little pastel-blue line up in Montmartre to see the route)

[Shoesy]

I must say that from these posts Montmartre looks as charming as can be, and I definitely plan to spend some quality time there.......but first I need to get myself over to Paris, don't I? My husband and I are definitely planning on dining at Relais Gascon again as we cannot forget the delicious salads that they serve there.

[denise]

I have only once been to Montmatre, in 2001... I must have seen the "Torremolinos" because I thought it as awful! However lots of people seemed to love Montmatre so I was willing to give it a second chance... I asked the question on TA and was pilloried. Eventually the thread was taken off and I never got to know where this Montmatre is that people love.
THANK YOU Laidback and Gitte for these wonderful pictures and walks. they are just what I need....Montmatre is def on the list for October..... YES there is lots of interest..... more please!
Denise
Love from England

[GitteK]

Denise - and everyone else:

I cannot recommend strongly enough to take a walk in the early morning hours, at around 05:00, in the touristy part of Montmartre, which is normally a totally ghastly area packed with buscrowds, souvenirshops and phoney artists: Rue Norvins, Rue St. Rustique, Place du Tertre etc.

At five in the morning you have it all to yourself, LITERALLY ! There is no one there. I mean it. No one. Period.

Then and only then can you hear the old pretty houses whisper to you stories of Montmartres glorious past, with flamboyance, melodrama and passion. To me it was a deeply moving, ethereal experience, which still lifts up my heart each time I think back to that cool, quiet September morning.

And you will have a secret with Montmartre that very few people share.

These photos are from 28 Sept. 2007 at 05:00. (Sorry for lousy quality. Taken with my cellphone)

[Shoesy]

Gitte - With all due respect, I would never feel comfortable walking around that early in the dark. And please don't tell me that all the rapists and other potential bad guys are still asleep then because that wouldn't change the fact that I would find it creepy to be out alone at that time.

[GitteK]

Shoesy - With all due respect: at this time of year the sun is probably up at 05:00.

And I never claimed that the morning walk was something everyone should do. I was just giving Denise and others a suggestion for meeting the authentic, unspoiled Montmartre, even in places that are normally not very desirable, because of the tourist crowds and "plastic" atmosphere during opening hours.

[Shoesy]

Well then, that's another story. As long as there's some light, I'd feel fine.

[holger]

Gitte and Laidback, betwen you both you have provided lots to walk and explore. We may be only able to do parts of this given some difficulties with hills. But some of the streets look absolutely charming.

Thanks so much.

[Shoesy]

Actually, climbing the hills is something I personally would look forward to. I'm sure I'd find it VERY challenging , but it's probably great exercise for the popo and thigh muscles.

[GitteK]

Holger, you can take the Montmartrobus around and then hop off, when you see something interesting. Walk around for a while (e.g. once you are on the top of the hill, so you don't have to climb any stairs) - and then hop on the bus again at another stop, thus resting your legs and still getting a great and cheap sightseeing trip.

With your Navigo Découverte in hand it's "free of charge" to hop on/hop off, so you can spend as much time as you like in this fashion.

[luckyluc]

When I have the chance to get lost in Paris, I often wonder if the people with now immortal names had any idea they would finish as Paris's topography !

As for Armand Augustin Louis, marquis de Caulaincourt, duc de Vincence, grand écuyer of Napoléon Ier it is easier to imagine since he left very interesting memoirs, sadly not very knows in which he noted the Emperor conversations as they are retreating from Russia. The Marquis de Caulaincourt was France's ambassador to Russia and try to convince Napoleon not to invade Russia, to which the Emperor acccuse him of becoming a Russian and being seduced by the Tsar.

So when I read his name I see Caulaincourt and the Emperor, in such a poor state after days of running from the Prussian, so dirty, so tired, with long bears that the guards of the Tuileries refuse to open the gates !

The memoirs have been translated in English in 1935 under the title Memoirs of General de Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza, 1812-1813 / edited by Jean Hanoteau ; translated by Hamish Miles. London : Cassell

[sistereurope]

Great pictures! Thanks for your timely observations and posts Laidback and Gitte...I was seriously considering staying in this area this fall and now I am totally convinced (and that studio on rue Junot is at the top of my list, as are several of Yetunde's apartments)
I've taken similar walks to yours, Gitte (although not at 5AM ) and look forward to learning more about the area.
I'm not sure if any of you remember this pic...it's my gallant stepson with the statue in your picture: ;D


(oh, and Luc... I exalt you for the history lesson! )

[Shoesy]

Sis - That's one photo that I have not forgotten. ;D

[sistereurope]

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I loved that shot!

Here's another:


my version:

[cybee]

Speaking of photos....is anyone else having difficulty seeing all the photos...suddenly a significant amount of the photos (including avatars) are merely little blue question marks albeit other photos I can still see! Curious and curiouser!

[Laidback]

Jun 18, 2008 8:02:13 GMT -5 sistereurope said:

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I loved that shot!

Sister, great photos of Montmartre; isn't it amazing how many people have the almost exact same photos. Thanks for your additions and jump in at any time.

Gitte, I can't believe the hard work you put into research and the talent you have for extracting exactly the right thing to clarify your message.

luc, thanks for the info on how Rue Caulaincourt got its' name. Streets, Squares and Places all over Paris reflect the power of Napoleon by their names.

Holger, indeed Montmartre is full of stairs and steep hills, but by nature, I run towards lassitude and obesity so I have learned to negotiate most places the lazy way. I will touch on that a little further down thread.

[holger]

Jun 18, 2008 6:19:27 GMT -5 GitteK said:

Holger, you can take the Montmartrobus around and then hop off, when you see something interesting. Walk around for a while (e.g. once you are on the top of the hill, so you don't have to climb any stairs) - and then hop on the bus again at another stop, thus resting your legs and still getting a great and cheap sightseeing trip.

With your Navigo Découverte in hand it's "free of charge" to hop on/hop off, so you can spend as much time as you like in this fashion.

Thanks Gitte,
This looks like a good solution. I know there was information about how to get the Navigo Decouverte but really did not pay attention as we used the carnets on our other trips. Is that the one you need pictures for?

LB, I will look for your discourse on minimizing effort. Even though I am slow and may need my cane, I do a fair amount of walking. DANISH husband is the car addict and really prefers to minimize walking. So to avoid too many stops for breaks which generally result in increasing calorie intake and/or complaints, using buses for part of the way and then walking selectively in small chunks works best.