Introduction to the lower Montmartre – Pigalle self-guided artists’ studios walk

This second walk around the lower Montmartre – Pigalle area is for art-enthusiasts with an interest in Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Picasso and Cubism or the Paris Jazz Age. The walk takes you past the artists’ studios and apartments and the sites of the 1920s jazz clubs.

By guiding you to specific sites I hope that the convergence of place, artist and associated works of art, plus a little creative imagination from you, bring you closer to the artists. My aim is to intensify your experience of being in Montmartre and to help you appreciate its artistic legacy.

Not so long ago Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, and the jazz musicians all walked these streets. Follow the route and walk in their footsteps.

Paintings and places

I look at a selection of paintings the artists created whilst living or working in the featured site. The idea of these more detailed sections is to match painting to place and to explore some of the artists’ projects, techniques, aspirations and thought processes.

For Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec the route either takes you to, or gives you directions to, every known address in Montmartre.

Two infographics: Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas

I have also produced two infographics; these link places and paintings for Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. The infographics are:

• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s studios, apartments and selected works in Pigalle
• Edgar Degas’ studios, apartments and selected works in Pigalle

You are welcome to download these infographics but please credit the source or link to the walk or give the site a mention on any social media that you are connected to.

The lower Montmartre – Pigalle walk

The lower Montmartre – Pigalle walk is 2,2 kilometres or 1,4 miles long from the start at Abbesses métro station to the end at the site of the second Chat Noir cabaret, point 18. There are some light uphill and downhill sections and stairs at the start, but it is a much less challenging route than the upper Montmartre walk.

This is a less picturesque tour than the upper Montmartre circuit.

With the exception of the Moulin Rouge, a theatre, there are no museums or public entry spaces on the circuit, all the addresses are now private apartments or hotels.

Place Pigalle

Place Pigalle (Pigalle square) was named after the eighteenth century sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle.

The Pigalle area was the Paris red light area. The sex industry is in decline here with only some seedy premises strung out along Boulevard de Clichy. The area is considered safe during the day but take the usual city precautions.

The walk includes passing one or two red light premises when you cross Boulevard de Clichy at the beginning of the walk, the rest is through normal city streets.

SoPo – South Pigalle

The walk skirts the South Pigalle area. It has witnessed considerable gentrification with middle-class professionals moving in and is now  known as SoPo.

The area has many cocktail bars, cafés, restaurants, boutique hotels, clothes shops, health food shops, gyms and other lifestyle accessories and services for the image-conscious.

For wheelchair users

Because walk 1 the upper Montmartre walk is very hilly, I took time to map an alternative disabled route which followed a modified circuit.

This second lower Montmartre – Pigalle walk involves much less climbing and so I believe that most of it could be followed by someone in a wheelchair if accompanied. The only major difficulty would be the stairs at point 1. The Seurat studio site could be viewed by someone in a wheelchair from the top of the stairs.

A small detour via Rue Houdon marked in blue

I would then advise you to turn around and to roll back down Rue des Abbesses to its junction with Rue Houdon. Turn right into Rue Houdon. The street is quite steep heading downhill.

I have marked this short disabled detour in blue on the map. You would then follow exactly the same circuit as the normal route marked in orange, going across Boulevard de Clichy to access point 2.

For much more disabled information on Montmartre and Paris please see the  wheelchair route for the upper Montmartre walk. The Abbesses métro is not accessible for wheelchair users. The information on the disabled route page also tells you about which bus to get to access Rue des Abbesses leading to the Abbesses métro which is the start point of this walk.

Combining the upper Montmartre walk with the lower Montmartre – Pigalle walk

Because the first upper Montmartre walk starts and ends at the Abbesses métro station, if you are feeling energetic you might like to combine the two.

Here is walk 1 the upper Montmartre route:

And walk 2 this the lower Montmartre – Pigalle route:

There are many cafés and restaurants on Rue Lepic and especially Rue des Abbesses, see map 1 upper Montmartre, where you could rest and gather force before setting out on the second walk.

Enjoy the stroll.