Quartier Caulaincourt Montmartre

[Laidback]

Now that you know everything about Rue Caulaincourt, especially if you clicked on the link to Maigret's sites in my 1st post, let's go to the neighborhood market like Pat and I do. It is commonly called the Poteau market and is in a small triangle formed by the junctions of Rue Poteau, Duhesmes and Ordener right by the Jules Joffrin metro and the mairie of the 18th. Let's digress just a minute as this mairie is almost unknown but has one of the prettiest marriage salons in Paris with paintings by the native son/artist Maurice Utrillo. Ok, back to the market. This little triangle is a real, working neighborhood market for the area residents; no Rue Cler, Mouffetard, Buci tourist hordes, post card stands or tour buses. It does include one of the few remaining (gasp, cover your eyes my fellow Americans) horse butchers as well as one of the big name cheese merchants, Quatrehomme, which we love, as much for the fine cheeses as for the personal service. They made this sampling for us:

There is a good sausage shop, fish market, butcher

shown here preparing us a pintade,
and fruit and vegetable store shown here on the corner of Duhesme and Ordener.




From our apt. on Caulaincourt the Poteau market is straight downhill, we love the beautiful staircases as long as we can go down, so we take a right out of our door and immediately go down these stairs on Rue des Saules from Rue Caulaincourt

then one block down Rue Duhesme and we are there. Getting home is a different matter; if we feel like walking we go SE on Rue Ramey (which is less steep with no stairs) until it meets Rue Custine which is just the continuation of Rue Caulaincourt; we take a right and 500 flat yards further is our apt. We can also hop on the little Monmartrobus, described so well by Gitte, at the mairie and it takes us practically to our front door at the Lamarck-Caulaincourt stop. The same can be done by the metro which has the same stops. We LOVE the Montmartrobus. After you have had your Kodak moments at Le Moulin Rouge and along "Pig Alley" you can catch it just off Pl. Pigalle on Rue Martyrs and save the wear and tear on your lungs/legs and ride right by Amelie's Tourist Central hopping on and off as you wish; please get a Navigo Découverte pass if you are in Paris for a week or more.

Now we are provisioned, so the next installment we will do the tourist thing.

[luvparee]

Thanks so much, LB! Another great read this morning.... keep it up!

[GitteK]

Thanks to Laidback for the personalized photos ! And as to my suggestion for a walk, it was not "hard work and research" at all. It was just rewinding my memory as to the routes I have taken - and then googling for pics to match !

And holger, DO get a Navigo Découverte (yes, bring passport size photos).
Not only is it stylish and goes "ding-ding" in the most Paris-chic way, it is also SOOOO easy to buy, use and re-fill !

These threads should be sufficient to get you started:
www.ourparisforum.com/index.cgi?board=common&action=display&thread=1086
www.ourparisforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=common&thread=1654&page=1

www.ratp.info/informer/passe_navigo_orange.php
tinyurl.com/3dfn7a
tinyurl.com/36h6zs
www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/01/au_revoir_carte_1.html

[luckyluc]

Your mention of the short story Le Passe Muraille by Marcel Aymée and your report on Caulaincourt jump start my memory this morning. I did remember Aymée talking about rue Caulaincourt but could not for the life of me remember in which of his works.

So you "force" me to go through the list and going through my bookselves finally put my mind to rest. In "La Belle Image" the main character Raoul Cérusier live rue Caulaincourt and descrive it this way: (my poor English translation below...)

La plus belle de Paris. Elle ressemble à un chemin de paradis, car elle part d'un cimetière, le cimetière Montmartre, et monte vers le ciel en tournant, et ses arbres sont jeunes et naifs en toute saisons. Dans sa partie la plus noble, c'est-à-dire vers le sommet de sa courbe, elle ne croise aucune autre rue.

The most of Paris. She looks like a road to Paradise, because she start at a cemetary, the Montmartre cemetary and clime toward the sky turning, her trees are young and naive in each seasons. In her most noble part, toward the highest part of her curbing, she does not cross any other street.

[Laidback]

Luc,
Thanks for the quote. Would you a/o Anne266 critique my attempt at translating from the French?

"The most beautiful of Paris. It resembles a road to paradise because it starts at a cemetery, the cemetery of Montmartre, and in turning it rises towards heaven, and its trees are young and naive in all seasons. In its most noble part, which is the summit of its curve, it doesn't cross any other street."

If you prefer you could just PM me.

[cybee]

Annette,
Merci for clarifiying that this must be my laptop "acting up" solo...(re the "my not seeing all photos" issue)...either that, or PhotoBucket caught the news that I sometimes look too longingly at the pix of Paris..and so to put me out of my misery, so to speak...they say NON to Cybee! ha! ( très triste)!

Update...now I CAN see the photos (whew)..so was a short term problemo!

[kittyhead]

thanks laidback & gitte for the nice walks. montmartre is on the list next month...oo 34 days!!!

[Laidback]

Today let’s get the tourist thing over and done with. Gitte has covered it better than I can, so much of this will be old shoes, particularly with S.E.’s “better than mine” photos, but repetition aids retention.

The most famous spot in Montmartre is right at the top of the hill, Sacre Coeur, so let’s start there and work our way downhill. It is a difficult walk/climb from any direction to get to Sacre Coeur so I take an easy on the legs route, of which there are 2, the Montmartrobus or a combination of the metro from Abbesses exit(use the elevator up) and the cute little funicular. From the south, I strongly recommend the Montmartrobus which you can catch at the intersection of Pigalle and Rue des Martyrs, take a scenic little ride up hill and get off at Pl. du Tertre/Norvins or, from where we stay on the north slope, at Lamarck-Caulaincourt and get off either at Utrillo or the top of the Funicular. Consult Gitte’s post of the RATP site upthread for a print-out of the bus route.

Sacre Coeur is lovely inside and out and possesses a great view over Paris from its’ terrace. There are swarms of tourists, so watch your wallet and shun the scammers with their string, bracelet, ring, etc. tricks. If your schedule permits, don’t come on a week end. The interior of the church is rather Byzantine with all the gold mosaics. Every time we have been, there is a person I refer to as the “church Nazi” who swoops down on anyone taking a photo, wearing a baseball cap or talking above a whisper. He is not the lone zealot as there are nuns of an order I can’t remember who keep up an around the clock prayer vigil. Note the interesting photos in the back of the church of the adjacent bomb damage which miraculously did no damage of consequence to the church; I guess they needed those nuns at the cathedrals in Orleans, Reims, etc.

After coming out of Sacre Coeur take a right and find yourself at the Place du Tertre, a square which must have been quite lovely before it became filled with faux-artistes, caricature cutters, instant portraitists, junk souvenir/postcard shops and their ilk. You can still get a feel for what it must have been by visiting it early in the morning.

Leave Pl. du Tertre going west on Rue Norvins and soon on your right you will meet the “Passe-Muraille” at Pl. Marcel Aymé:



After taking your photo with the man who walked through walls, take a right on Girardon and in about a block you will come upon Pl. Dalida

Named after the much loved singer, TV entertainer, Dalida, who lived here much of her adult life, but now resides in probably the prettiest tomb in the Montmartre cemetery. There was an exposition devoted to her at the Hotel de Ville about a year ago. Gitte and S.E. have posted better photos of her but just for good measure here is mine:



Now take a right ( east) and at #6 Rue Abreuvoir on your left is Renoir’s house, which was talked about on another thread a while back as being for sale. A few more steps east on Abreuvoir and it will intersect with Rue des Saules where the old restaurant La Maison Rose sits


and in keeping with my lazy man’s route turn left, down hill, as Rue des Saules is very steep and you will come to the Lapin Agile at #22 which has been shown already up-thread. It is at the corner of St. Vincent where the famous Montmartre vineyard sits, one more photo of the little vineyard can’t hurt can it? :


Now a few more steps down hill and down this staircase


and we are back at Caulaincourt, ready to catch the Montmartrobus on another excursion.

Gitte walked us along the very nice residential C-shaped Rue Junot and showed us a photo of Villa Léandre which I think of as the North Slope’s version of Georgetown. The last time we were there it was cordoned off for the filming of a movie. So would you like to visit Amelie country, essentially the South Slope?

[lily]

;)aaah keep it going... bliss. I couldnt have wished for better information/photos
LB as I mentioned before I will be in that apartment very soon and your tour is making me drool Especially like the lazyboy/girl tips as Ive just had a leg op and hoping all will be well for the stairs.

What more could I ask for? I will feel Ive been there already.

Gitte, one of your photos is the same as my avatar and last year I came across Villa Leandre, what a gem - is one of the houses called 10 Downing Street? (I think!). I too had it all to myself. It was like a film set.

[ouiparis]

Qu'est que c'est Torremolinos?

[Anne]

Yes, go on please Jim !
I love Montmartre and enjoy seeing here pics of places that I know and also discovering areas that I didn't know about, thanks to Gitte and you : I had never been to the North of the Butte, and this Villa Léandre ...

Ouiparis, Torremolinos is a seaside resort in Spain which has become one of the the symbol, or rather a caricature, of mass tourism in Europe .

[GitteK]

Here's a link with more pictures and descriptions of the area of the north-western side of La Butte:
www.apartfr.com/Montmartre/MontmartreOct.htm

[mez]

Oh please, don't stop! I love these types of posts.

Jim, those food market shots look incredible.

As I sit here and read the posts, I must admit I wonder why I always seem to miss these nooks and crannys. I stroll, I don't rush, but still seem to miss these pockets of delight.

Anyway, I went back through some of my photos from the last trip and while not as exciting, they are bit different.

First, check out proof of Jim's theory that many of us have the same photos...look at all the people standing in front of me with cameras in hand.



And look what happens when you are patient and wait a couple of minutes...


The rest of my photos are from my trip up to the dome of the Sacre Coeur.










Enjoy!

[mez]

Yikes! Sorry, I did resize them, but something is clearly not working...

[sistereurope]

I agree - one can't have too many pictures (I love looking at everyone's shots - even the same places look different through another's eyes, imho)...

[Sandy M]

Thanks everyone for these wonderful walks and pictures. I feel like I have been to Paris this morning - and oh how I wish I was there! Great way to start the day with this thread!

Sandy M

[Laura (paris4)]

Such a great thread. Really informative and lovely pics too.

I would love to add a couple of my own if that's ok. And further prove that we all have the same photos!
(Never done this before so hope it works )






Oops... a bit big perhaps?!

[Jody]

Paris 4 is that little red haired sweetcake yours?

[Laura (paris4)]

He sure is Demarais. Although, that picture was taken almost three years ago so he is now a very grown up nearly-six year old. He also has an even redder-haired little brother who is coming up for two. We get through a lot of sun-cream in our family - the joys of being Scottish! ;D

Laura

[GitteK]

Some of you may have seen these pics before, taken in April from Square d'Anvers, a lovely place at the bottom of the hill. It illustrates how tall the Montmartre hill really is, seen from below - and of course the omnipresence of the white church.