Day 192
When choosing a neighborhood to live in for three months, Paul was immediately drawn to Montmartre. From our visits here before, we knew it felt more like a quaint village with narrow cobble-stoned streets, lots of cafes, it even has famous basilica perched above the city.
We’ve explored many of the neighborhoods in the past few months, but are still happy we chose to live here. It’s close to famous sites like the Moulin Rouge or the cute little streets of Abbesses. There are many cafes and restaurants to choose from.
It’s easy to imagine why so many artists were drawn here to live, paint, and socialize. It was a mecca where creative geniuses were nurtured and inspired, became alcoholics, and struggled with mental illness.
We went to the Montmartre Museum which was an estate were numerous famous painters lived and had studios. The most interesting was the apartment and studio of Suzanne Valadon. There were also works from her son Maurice Utrillo. Picasso and Van Gogh were also here along with Vlamenck, Derain, Soutine, Modigliani. We saw the rooms where they lived and painted, the courtyard where they congregated, their views of the vineyards and the city, the nickel bar they drank from, even the view of the moon their windows.
After the museum we walked back through the neighborhoods of Montmartre and Abbesses which had inspired these artists.
