From Picasso to Apollinaire, painters and poets put the "art" in Montmartre, one of the interesting and very bohemian areas of Paris to visit. The two main attractions are the infamous Moulin Rouge, which is really pretty run down looking in real life... it's located on the boulevard de Clichy, which is the heart of the red light district (Pigalle) in Paris and that stretch of road is definitely seedy – filled with sex shops, peep shows and an interesting collection of atypical Parisians.
However, just a few streets above, in Montmartre, stands the Basilica of Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart). I'ts a spectacular and huge white basilica that was built as a memorial to the 60,000 French soldiers killed during the France-Prussian war and took 46 years to build and cost 40 million francs. It’s a bit of a climb up all the stairs to actually reach the church, but it’s definitely worth the effort. The church isn’t all that spectacular inside, but the view of the entire city once you're up there, is fantastic.
Montmartre itself is this tiny little collection of winding back streets, small squares and terraces lined with cafes and bars. There are plenty of artists around today still, painting tourist portraits in the place du Tetre, where this is an artists market with painters for sale. THere are also plenty of smaller museums and galleries up here, the most famous probably is the Salvador Dali museum, but we didn't have enough time - however, I did have an excellent bowl of French onion soup (although in France, they just call it onion soup!)
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