Montmartre question

We enjoyed the Paris Walks tour which took us to Le Passe-Muraille [pass-through wall sculpture], the mur je t’aime [wall of "I Love You"], Le Cimetière Montmartre, and the vineyard. It ended at Sacre Coeur.

We, like you, had not spent much time in Montmartre, so we stayed there for two nights at Hotel Relais Montmartre, a sweet little hotel recommended by some on the Forum. We returned a year later to re-visit and enjoy an area of Paris that had previously received short shrift from us. It's a nice respite from the more frequented areas of Paris which we also love, but a change of pace is nice.

Lulu, I don't think it's at all difficult to explore this area on your own, as we did. There are any number of self-guided tours that you could use if wanting something more structured. For example, take a look at this one?

https://www.ontheluce.com/montmartre-paris-walking-tour/

I'll highly recommend visiting Cimetière de Montmartre while you're in the area. Edgar Degas, François Truffaut, Adolphe Sax (inventor of the instrument), Vaslav Nijinski and Hector Berlioz are some of the notables buried there.
https://parisjetaime.com/eng/culture/cimetiere-de-montmartre-p956
https://cdn.paris.fr/paris/2022/06/15/3e34e54fe886e92f7da4dbb710a7c527.pdf

Here also is Charles-Henri Sanson; Royal executioner of France and high executioner of the First French Republic. Charles-Henri parted the head of King Louis XVI from the rest of his person (same for nearly 3,000 others), and his son Henri (also buried here) did the honors for Marie Antoinette. A grandson was the 6th and last in the line of Sanson executioners.

“France with Vero” has several YouTube videos of her walks throughout the Montmartre. She’s a Rick Steves guide, among other things.

Lulu, like Lindy, I did the Paris Walks Montemartre in 2023. It was a great way to see places I would not have found on my own. And spots I wanted to return to. The tour ends at Sacre Coeur near the funicular.

Here is our favorite Montmartre walk. Get off at Lamarck Caulaincourt and take the elevator to the surface. At exit turn right and walk up the gradual slope to Caulaincourt and turn right (or you could walk up the steep steps above the metro entrance up to Caulaincourt (nice stair photo ops, but steep). Walk up Caulaincourt a ways and cross over tne walk up Avenue Junot. This street has a lot of stunning architecture and you can peek into the private gated community near the start of the walk. This is a gradual slop up towards Sacre Coeur. When you get near the top of this rise, there is a little square with the famous 'man walking through the all' statue. Good photo op and tourists often take each other's picture here.

At this point you can continue up Junot to the ugly Place du Tertre with its pickpockets, fake artists and tourist kitch. Or you can head down the hill to the Vineyard. This is a very picturesque area. Turn right at the Vineyard and walk up the pretty street to the back of Sacre Couer. then walk along the side of the church to the front for the views across Paris or to climb the church tower or visit the basilica

This is so much more pleasant than fighting your way through the crowds on Anvers, one of the ugliest tourist experiences, and then taking the funnicular and steps up to the church. IMHO.

Thank you all, your responses are very informative!

This summer we will stay on the rue des Martyrs, so have plans of revisiting Montmartre as well. I am planning to avoid Place du Tertre, Place St Pierre, and the front side of Sacre Coeur where everybody wants to take selfies. I am thinking of walking up rue Lepic, stopping there for a meal--either lunch or dinner; then perhaps visiting the square that hosts the statue of Dalida; then cutting over to rue Caulaincourt and detouring via rue Lamarck toward the backside of the church. I do want to pause in Parc Marcel Bluestein Blanchet to snap some pics of the dome from that angle, which looks pretty in photos I've seen. Going home I'll drop into rue Sant-Rustique (especially if dinner is the meal we end up having on rue Lepic) or else over to rue Clignancourt.

You lost me at "we climbed the stairs instead of taking the funicular!"