Paris Montmartre: Moulin Rouge, Sacré-Cœur & Artists Walk

4.88

(149 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed stepping out at Place des Abbesses was how the air felt different—maybe it was the mix of bakery smells and that old stone chill from the metro steps. Our guide, Camille, waved us over with a smile and somehow remembered all our names (I barely remembered my own after the flight). She started right off talking about Saint Denis—his story is honestly wild, something about carrying his head up this very hill? Not what I expected to hear before coffee. The Wall of Love was just around the corner; it’s smaller than you’d think but seeing “I love you” in so many languages made me grin. Some couple next to us tried to find their language and ended up laughing at their own pronunciation. It felt… Parisian, in a good way.

We wound through narrow streets where every other building had a plaque or a story—Picasso lived here, Dalida sang there. Camille pointed out Le Bateau-Lavoir and told us how Picasso basically changed art history inside those walls. There’s something about hearing these stories right where they happened that makes them stick. The group paused at Dalida’s bust (her eyes are almost too intense), and someone tried to sing one of her songs—badly—but nobody minded. The light kept shifting between cloudy and bright, which made La Maison Rose look even more like a painting than real life.

I didn’t expect to find an actual vineyard in Paris but there it was—Clos Montmartre—tucked behind an iron fence, vines twisting up like they’re pretending not to be in the middle of a city. We stopped for a quick pastry break (the croissant was still warm; I’m ruined for supermarket ones now). By the time we reached Sacré-Cœur Basilica, my legs were tired but standing on those steps looking out over Paris felt worth every stair. It was quieter than I thought it’d be up there—a little wind, someone playing “La Vie en Rose” on accordion somewhere below. I still think about that view when things get noisy back home.