This is an extract from what will eventually (hopefully) be a posh Photobook
The historic Parisian quartier of MONTMARTRE, a relatively small area which was not even a
part of the city until 1850, has
everything the discerning visitor could
possibly need .
Toulouse Lautrec lived there for fifteen years and it is said that he rarely ever left
the place - and why should he, as there was no reason for him to go anywhere
else. For in Montmartre you can find love and romance , history and art, culture
galore and the finest food and drink - and all of this within easy walking
distance from one of the small but comfortable hotels located in it’s narrow picturesque
streets.
You won’t see a chain store of any sort here
either , as all the commercial outlets ,
shops , bars and cafes are still privately owned , many of them by the same
families after 100 years or more. There
has been practically no new building here for 150 years or so and apart from a
lick of paint here and there and a few new restaurant signs it’s just the same
as it was when Lautrec and his boozy womanising chums strolled the tiny cobbled
lanes.
There are chocolate shops to die
for , designer boutiques - but not with designer prices - and the freshest of fresh foods of every
description put out on display every morning.
Artisans- not just artists but
craftsmen too - still exist here where tailors , cobblers and repairers of all
sorts promote their skills in tiny windows displays and some like jobbing
upholsterers for instance right there on the pavement.
Art & Culture
When
Lautrec first came to Paris he lived right opposite the Moulin Rouge in an
apartment at number 21 rue Fontaine. Degas
had his studio on the ground floor next door at number 19 and above him lived
Lautrec’s friend Rene Grenier and
his wife. Erotic drawings made by
Lautrec at the time cataloguing their adventurous threesomes have only come to
light a few years ago and were on show
at an exhibition in London’s Barbican
Centre a few years ago.
Right by the side of the Moulin Rouge is rue Lepic, a long crescent shaped
street lined with strange artists galleries , bars and cafes that will take you
right through the centre of this amazing little district, the whole of which is
steeped in artistic history. We called
in to his studio at no 3 rue Tourlaque to
say hello to Henri Landier, an artist friend of ours who has lived in
Montmartre all his life.
Next door but one at no 7 is the studio where
Lautrec designed all his posters and
paintings of brothel scenes , lesbian and low life and where he later held his
notorious orgies. Susan Valadon the love of his life, lived right next door – very
conveniently for Lautrec as his little
legs didn’t have to carry him very far to fulfil his personal desires. This short road leads down to the old Cemetery of Montmartre, hidden away just below street level in an old tree
lined quarry where dozens of the illustrious dead including Zola , Degas, Berlioz and Offenbach are
buried.
A bit further on down rue Lepic is the only
remaining original windmill in Montmartre, le
Moulin de Gallette the
notorious can-can club immortalised by Renoir in his paintings and where it is
said that some of the girls occasionally forgot to put on their underwear
before a show. What a marvellous piece
of early marketing that must have been ,
guaranteed to bring the punters back time and time again , just in case
it was true.
The Place
du Tertre is a bit touristy, but
still an exciting place to be , full of artists and bohemians of one kind or
another . La Bonne Franquette the
absinthe bar where Lautrec , Van Gogh
and their arty crowd would regularly get legless on a potentially lethal green
cocktail called the earthquake is still
there , now a popular restaurant with freshly painted facade . This smart little square leads on up to the
very top of the hill ( le Butte )
and the white domes of the Sacre Coeur , the highest point in
Paris with breathtaking views over the
whole city.
The Musee
de Montmartre , only a couple of
streets away was once a private house and lived in at various times by Renoir ,
Dufy , Suzanne Valladon and her mad
son Utrillo . It looks
like a tiny place from the outside but once through the little side gate
reveals a superb garden and an immaculately
restored building that still retains that lived in feeling . From the upstairs windows you can look down
upon the posh side of the area where many of the rich and famous – Jean Paul Gaultier still has a house in
rue Frochot – and as far as I know
he still lives there.
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