| Two quiet and attractive routes lead to the top of the Butte from the place des Abbesses. You can climb up rue de la Vieuville and the stairs in rue Drevet to the minuscule place du Calvaire, which has a lovely view back over the city; alternatively, go up rue Durantin, then right on rue Tholozé and right again on rue Lepic into rue des Norvins. Along rue Lepic, you'll pass the Moulin de la Galette, a lone survivor of Montmartre's forty-odd windmills whose famous dances were immortalized by Renoir in his Bal du Moulin de la Galette; the painting now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay. Rue Poulbot, at the beginning of rue des Norvins, leads round to the underground Espace Montmartre – Salvador Dalí, at no. 9–11 (daily 10am–6.30pm; €7; M° Abbesses). With its giant souvenir shop and collection of limited-edition sculptures and etchings, many created towards the end of the artist's life when he was quite frankly cashing in, this museum lives up to the anagram that André Breton made of Dalí's name: Avida Dollars. Artistic and literary associations abound hereabouts. Zola, Berlioz, Turgenev, Seurat, Degas and Van Gogh lived in the area. Picasso, Braque and Juan Gris invented Cubism in an old piano factory in the tiny place Émile-Goudeau, known as the Bateau-Lavoir; it still provides studio space for artists, though the original building burnt down some years ago. At the foot of the Butte, on place Blanche, Toulouse-Lautrec's inspiration, the Moulin Rouge, still survives, albeit a mere shadow of its former self. Rue Lepic begins here, its winding contours recalling the lane that once served the plaster quarry wagons. A busy market occupies the lower part of the street, but once above rue des Abbesses it reverts to a mixture of tranquil and furtive elegance. Round the corner above rue Tourlaque, a flight of steps and a muddy path sneak between gardens to avenue Junot, where the actress Anouk Aimée has her home. Off to the left is the secluded and exclusive cul-de-sac Villa Léandre, while to the right, the Cubist house of Dadaist poet Tristan Tzara stands on the corner of another exclusive enclave of houses and gardens, the Hameau des Artistes. Higher up the street the square Suzanne-Buisson provides a gentle haven, with a sunken boules pitch overlooked by a statue of St Denis clutching his head to his breast.
Pages in section ‘Up to the Butte’: Picasso at the Bateau-Lavoir.
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