Stayed at Hotel Relais-Montmartre in late December - lovely place with helpful staff in this walkable neighborhood. Small rooms but had everything we needed, and a very comfortable bed. The 15€ breakfast seems expensive, but isn’t - if you are hungry and want more than one cup of coffee. Assorted breads, pastries, cheeses, meats, boiled eggs, fruit, cereal, yogurt - and unlimited coffee. A couple of mornings, we were eager to get out and stopped at local places for pastries, juice, and a coffee and spent nearly as much.
Been to Paris many times, this was a quick weekend to visit a friend on our way to Florence, so we pretty much stuck to wandering Montmartre, where we’d never stayed. Nice hike (uphill) sort of along rue Calaincourt through residential areas to Sacre Coeur, where we found ourselves behind the church - and nearly alone in a small park with arbor, benches - absolutely lovely, even on a gloomy winter day.
Visited the fabric houses on Place Saint-Pierre, adventures in buying a few yards of embroidered trims and buttons, lace (packable souvenirs) and stuck our heads into every small church we passed, and several cafes for a wine or coffee break. Great cafe and bookstore at Musee d’Art Naif!
Montmartre Museum was a highlight, both the buildings and grounds ( and overlook to last remaining Montmartre vineyard) - don’t miss the video before your tour, “narrated” by Suzanne Valdon with photo montage showing several decades of the area. Saw her studio, then recognized many other places as we walked around Montmartre.
We used the Métro several times to get to our friends’ place in the 6th and to visit the Marais (4th) one day and also rode the 67 bus from Blvd Clichy to Notre Dame (the park in back is always quiet) - a great way to see the city when we were tired of walking.
No restaurant reviews to give you, as we had dinners at our friends’ - but we never had trouble finding tasty brasseries, cafes, boulangeries, etc. in our daily wanderings around Montmartre. It was especially nice to be in this neighborhood between Christmas and New Year’s among the seasonal lights and decorations. And after an especially warm fall/winter, gardens still bloomed!
We’d stay in Montmartre again, and would rent an apartment for a longer stay. It’s not uncrowded or undiscovered by any means, but mornings and evenings, you’re well away from the hordes.
The only downside is that public transport isn’t quite as convenient, which might be a factor for a short stay when you want/need to see major sights.
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3728 posts
You may want to also post this in the Trip Reports section.
Posted by
franktown, colorado
2252 posts
Thank you, judy, for this very nice trip report about an area of Paris I am not too familiar with. I will be bookmarking this for my visit in a few months. I appreciate that you took the time to post.
Posted by
10 posts
On our last trip to Paris, we were cautioned thru TripAdvisor that the area was filled with aggressive people trying every way to con you. This does not sound at all like your experience. We're heading back to Paris in May, and want to know if you had any experiences like this? I do want to get to the Montmartre area and visit Sacre Coeur.
Thank you.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
We were in Montmartre over New Year's weekend, and the areas tourists know about were crowded, both with tourists, and I suppose, those who would like to prey upon unwary tourists. I imagine this scenario will be more so in May. That said, we use the same strategies abroad we use in our home city — stay aware of who and what is around us and know how and when to move away from anything bothersome. I've never felt unsafe in Paris, or anywhere else.
Posted by
1221 posts
It's Paris so expect the aggressive micro-capitalism of the dudes of who go to the big Carrefour and bring back cases of water or beer so they can sell individual bottles to folks enjoying the view from the cathedral steps. Don't engage and they'll move on to someone who does want to buy a beer from them.