Hello! I'm Christian (Kristen). I'm a proactive pensioner, involved in many cultural and social projects here in Paris. I'm a history buff, with a strong interest in European and French history. I've lived for several years in Paris - at a short walking distance from Montmartre. I've lived in six European countries and visited all of them. I speak fluently English, as I'm British educated. I am a Norwegian-born Italian.
The midday tour will start from the Pigalle area, and snake its way through the Montmartre streets and alleyways to highlight its history and its association with the impressionist painters.
While gradually walking up to the summit of the Montmartre hill, I'll be showing the best cafes with views, the locations of the famous artist's ateliers, interesting architectural features of the 'village' part of Montmartre, and other more recent artistic curiosities of 20th century Montmartre.
To save time, we'll not be entering the two Montmartre museums or the churches. But passing in front of them, I'll give a short presentation about each of them.
This tour will give you a good experience and feel of what Montmartre is all about, so you can claim to have visited this famous neighborhood.
The tour will also give you advice on what else to see, especially the interior of various buildings of touristic interest. So join me on this tour!
This activity includes:
This is a good introductory tour of Montmartre, with over 20 stops in a little over two hours.
This is what you would call a ‘whirlwind’ tour of Montmartre, so any place that inspires curiosity, can be explored more in depth after the tour. Which conveniently ends a short walking distance to Montmartre’s central square.
The maximum size of the touring group will be twelve persons, but usually it will be between two to six persons, as large groups can be an unsatisfying experience for the individual walker.
Two points of interest are restricted recently. That is the two murals. The ‘love wall’ has been cordoned off due to public works, and will not visited in our tour until April 2024.
Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).
Outside of the middle Pigalle métro station exit (middle métro station exit - I’ll be holding a blue folder & brown grey rucksack. Right opposite the Bouillon and the McDonalds restaurants, on the traffic island).
Introduction to tour. Description surrounding places and entertainment venues.
Present Pigalle area and now it all started as a commercial and entertainment area.
Tell history of the Chat noir cabaret theatre.
Tell history of the Moulin Rouge cabaret theatre.
Present one filming location of ‘Amalia’s fantastic adventures in Montmartre’ , Oscar winning film from 2002.
Apartment where Vincent Van Gogh lived and worked for a year and a half.
Presentation of Saint Jean modernistic church at corner of Place Abbesse.
Briefly present Abbesse metro station and Love Wall mural.
Replica of herbal garden of now demolished Monastery. Introduce Association of Old Montmartre.
Cafe Le Relais de la Butte, first view over Paris
Place where there was a co-operative of artists, first abode of Pablo Picasso.
House of Dalida , 1980s pop singer.
Galette windmill, first windmill
Statue of book hero stuck in the wall.
Presentation of second windmill, Butte fin, In a small park. Show statue of St. Denis.
View over Montmartre, Sacré Coeur.
House of Maurice Utrillo, painter.
Presentation of only vineyard left in Montmartre.
Presentation museum and studio of August Renoir.
View over North side of Paris, iconic souvenir photo with lamp post.
Beautiful square, been there since the 12 th century. Despite being covered by restaurant tables and hordes of tourists, it’s still worth to see.
Presentation museum , other views south side Paris.
Second last stop of tour. The founding of the church with its associated Monastery was fundamental in creating the Montmartre village in the 12th century.
End of tour, the Basilica will be presented, together with details on how to catch metro, see the best views and answering questions.
Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).
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