Six of the best ...Streets in Montmartre, Paris
Boulevard de Clichy A stroll through Montmartre should begin at crowded Place Pigalle, home to the Moulin Rouge cabaret (82 Boulevard de Clichy, below) and the Eroticism Museum (72 Boulevard de Clichy), both of which offer diversions far more wholesome than those of the surrounding streets after dark. From there, walk east through the bric-a-brac market along Boulevard de Rochechouart, where stalls filled with East African fabrics, military antiques, Suze ashtrays, pastis glasses and other cafe paraphernalia can trap you for hours. Take a seat outside the Chinese-run Jin Yi Fa cafe-restaurant and watch the fashion parade pass by.
Rue Lepic Renoir, Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec slept, drank and sold their paintings to pay for supper on this sloping stretch of rowdy restaurants and raucous cafes. Their shadows linger in places like Tabac Des Deux Moulins (15 Rue Lepic. Metro: Blanche or Pigalle), where the waiter dances, the barman sings and the chef whistles. After the sumptuous lunch-time special of smoked trout and goat's cheese salad, this sideshow should be the main attraction, but it's not. This smoky, art deco restaurant in the heart of Montmartre was a location for the hit French movie Amelie from Montmartre. Judging by the crowded sidewalk tables outside and steady strobing of camera flashes inside, more than a few people enjoyed the movie. The haze of Gauloise smoke is just as thick at Restaurant au Virage Lepic (61 Rue Lepic), where simple bistro fare can be mopped up with cheap wine and crusty bread for less than 15 euros (HK$130).
Rue des Abesses A curious mixture of ethnic charm and rural hubbub pervades the bright and brimming fruit stalls, fragrant Moroccan grocery stores and ethnic jewellery emporia specialising in trinkets from the Caribbean on this stetch of cobblestones. And when your shopping energy dwindles, recharge at any of the ubiquitous smoke-filled cafe-tabacs. If crude-oil-strength coffee is not your thing try the cushioned-filled Scarabee, a spicy-scented Egyptian salon de the round the corner at 5 Rue des Trois Freres. Order a refreshing mint tea, and watch the baguette-carrying locals going about their daily lives.
Rue Saint Vincent The expression 'un petit coin de Provence' (a slice of rural France) is still used to describe Montmartre's rambling hillside gardens, including those on Rue Saint Vincent. Behind the poky Musee de Montmartre, which documents the turbulent history of the precinct, lies the only wine-producing vineyard in Paris. Its annual harvest might only be 1,500 kilograms of grapes, yielding about 1,500 bottles of wine - but you don't hear the red-cheeked locals complaining.
Rue Gabrielle Take this less frenetic route up narrow winding cobblestones to the Sacre Coeur, the grand Byzantine and Romanesque church that attracts groovy Parisian teenagers, aspiring (and sometimes tone-deaf) musicians and legions of camera-slingers. The 50-kilometre panorama of Paris is worth the sweat. Recuperate at Au Rendez-vous Des Amis (23 Rue Gabrielle), a small, vaguely bohemian cafe-bar, where you can catch your breath with a chilled bottle of cider at a table beneath the low wood beams.
Place-du-Tertre Take a small plaza in the backstreets west of the Sacre Coeur, fill it with impatient Americans demanding over-priced cafe au lait and surround them with wily street artists hawking fake masterpieces. Then throw in a few vicious portrait touts for good measure and you have what most local residents might call 'the most cringeworthy spot' in Montmartre. Lively at best, phony at worst, Place-du-Tertre is still worth the climb through the quaint, shuttered neighbourhood, if not for the cliched picture of the famous restaurant Le Consulat that lies on its west side, then to witness the hectic business of art. Or is that the art of business?
