Montmartre on Labour Day (May1)

Will everything likely be open (shops, restaurants, street artists, museums)?

1 May is a major holiday in France, though the effect is slightly more muted in Paris, especially in neighborhoods with a high concentration of tourist-oriented businesses, which are more likely to stay open.

Non-tourist-oriented shops and restaurants are likely to be closed. Some museums (the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay) are closed, although Sacré-Coeur will stay open.

Have you looked at a guidebook? Montmartre is generally very well-covered in any decent guidebook of Paris and it's where I'd recommend you start. Depending on where you are starting from in St-Germain, metro lines 4 or 12 are likely to be your best bet.

May 1 along with Dec 25 and Jan 1 are the three days in France when virtually everything is closed. Assume things are closed unless you know otherwise. There will be restaurants open. I would think the tourist shops of the horrifying Place du Tertre would be open -- and Montmartre is a lovely place to stroll; it is quite beautiful. There will be cafes here and there open; shops are likely to be closed. It is a good day for parks and strolls.

We arrived in Paris on May 1st 2019. The weather was beautiful and everyone was out and about as many shops and some restaurants were closed. Some of the major streets, like Rue Rivoli were shut down to traffic, but I don’t know if that was because there had been issues with the Yellow Vest protests, so there was a heavy military/gendarme presence in that area. May 1st is Labor Day, so just be aware.

My husband loves the Montmartre area wants to visit every trip to Paris. We have visited not only Sacre Coeur, but the Montmartre Museum as well. If you are interested, check out France with Vero on YouTube where she has posted walking tours of that area. We always take the metro and have done the best with getting off at the Abbesse stop and taking the funicular to the top of the hill.

I'm going to suggest a walking route you might enjoy. Get off at Lamarck Caulaincourt and walk up the stairs to Caulaincourt (or walk to the right up the gradual street which will deliver you to Caulaincourt. Turn right and cross the street when you come to Junot-- Junot angles up towards Sacre Couer and is lined with interesting architecture and there is a villa (private gated community) just as the start which if it is open you can go in and take a peek. Wander up the gradual incline of Junot and you will come to the square with the man walking through the wall -- good photo op and there will be other people getting snapshots happy to take your picture with the statue and you can return the favor.

From there you can continue up to the hill and come to Place du Tertre (one of the most tourist pickpockety places in Paris) or you can look around and then either cross over and walk through the playground and out the back of the playground to a pedestrian path that runs along homes and gardens. turn right and follow this till you come to the street by the Vineyard and then proceed down that beautiful street (past Lapin Agile) to the back of Sacre Couer. There is. park to the left or you can walk along the basilica to the front and then go in, climb the bell tower or look out over the lovely views of Paris -- take the steps or funicular down -- or go back sideways through Place du Tertre.

At the square with the. man/wall you can also just head down the hill past the vineyard and turn right for the same walk but without the lovely little path through homes and gardens.

This is a walk with very little climbing and some of the prettiest parts of Montmartre.