48 hours at Grandes Carrières

Paris - Île-de-France/2022

Escape to this part of the 18th arrondissement and you'll rediscover a bit of the Parisian spirit, but in a decidedly more arty atmosphere. And don't forget to wear your shoes: it's a steep climb up and down!

Happy tourists! They can savor, with fresh eyes, the Butte Montmartre, which Parisians don't even see anymore. Around Sacré-Coeur and Place du Tertre, the unique charm of Montmartre is worth every postcard image. But it's important to know how to get away from it, as some people are well aware. That's why they head slightly west, towards the Grandes Carrières, a neighborhood with a rugged topography, just as much a part of the hilltop, also belonging to the 18th arrondissement. This is one of the most densely populated districts in Paris, with 32,014 inhabitants/km2. Despite this density, the village spirit has clung to the hillside: urban vines, private gardens, steep alleyways with enchanting names (l'allée des Brouillards), a secret address (l'Hôtel Particulier) and a square (Suzanne-Buisson) bustling with regulars playing pétanque. Of course, gentrification has come and gone. Tenants are staying for shorter periods, and prices in some areas have skyrocketed - up to €14,553 per square metre to buy. The best barometer remains rue Lepic, which begins on boulevard de Clichy. When the film Amélie Poulain was released in 2001, tourists from all over the world flocked like swallows to the Café des Deux Moulins, which served as the setting. The food shops were replaced by other boutiques. The family-run patisserie Les Petits Mitrons survives. Its seasonal fruit tarts with their caramelized pastry are, for some, veritable Proust's madeleines. Artisans are becoming increasingly rare. And yet, "to have been a pork butcher on rue Lepic is as honorable, if not as historic, as to have been an art dealer on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré (...). Rue Lepic is like the river of Montmartre that waters the country, throws tributaries into the depths of the district, nurtures the flora and produces squares that have more importance in the history of the Third Republic than a cloud of ministers or decrees", wrote Léon-Paul Fargue (1876-1947) in Mon quartier. It's a bygone era of four-season merchants, grisettes, marlous, cocottes and their poulbots (Montmartre gavroches drawn by Francisque Poulbot). Close your eyes: you can almost hear the verbal jousting of the Quat'Sous hoodlums, the sound of horses' hooves on the cobblestones and the cries of "À la fraîche, à la fraîche!" from the last vendors of eau de coco (licorice sticks macerated in lemon water)... The Grandes Carrières are bubbling with life. They owe their name to the gypsum quarries exploited until the mid-19th century, both in the open air and in underground galleries. The thirty or so windmills on the hilltop produce flour and grind the gypsum stones used to make the plaster of Paris. Montmartre (and the Grandes Carrières) were at the gates of the capital until 1860, when they were annexed. People already came here to drink wine, which was not taxed at the time. Later, they danced their legs off at the nearby Moulin Rouge. Bohemian artists used the area as a creative laboratory. Some lived in the Maquis, a wasteland where gardens grew up around huts and cob houses. It was razed in 1903 to make way for Avenue Junot, lined with beautiful houses, including Tristan Tzara's (at no. 15) designed by architect Adolf Loos. Even lower is higher. That's the way it is. It doesn't take long to lose your bearings. The first floor is on the second floor, following the contours of the land, without disturbing the cafés or restaurants. The history of the district is intertwined with the pleasures of the flesh, the spirit... and art. The Musée de Montmartre (actually just one street from Les Grandes Carrières) recounts this effervescence, evoking the Moulin de la Galette, where Renoir liked to dance on Saturdays, and the Bateau-Lavoir, where Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. In the museum gardens, at Café Renoir, our thoughts turn to all the others, such as Guillaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob. So many colorful ghosts haunt the Grandes Carrières! They can be found in the Montmartre cemetery, which contains the entire artistic directory: Michel Berger, Edgar Degas, Alexandre Dumas, Théophile Gauthier, La Goulue, Sacha Guitry, François Truffaut... A bird's wing away, Michou, the king of Parisian nights, has been resting since 2020 in the intimate Saint-Vincent cemetery. In front of his blue-rimmed bust, a passer-by confides: "The first time I saw Michou was at Dalida's funeral [in Montmartre, 1987, Editor's note] and the last was here. He was not well. We drank champagne together at his grave. The reveler had bought his room in the afterlife, so he could dance on it while taking a bow in the neighborhood.