When I'm in Paris

Paris means an almost endless succession of sights, sounds and attractions. Options for dining and adventure are seemingly endless.

Of course, Paris’ sense of history is also intense. It’s a history that can explored in its multitude of museums, galleries, and even in the streets you will walk every day.

An apartment from Welcome2France allows you to do more than simply visit sites where the greatest works of art in history are stored. Living in Paris means seeing the city through the eyes of the many artists who once called Paris home.

For example, renting an apartment in the Montmartre means staying in the area once inhabited by artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali and Monet. This magical area, set at Paris’ highest elevation, has a peculiar dualistic history, a mix of the sacred and the earthy.

Its most famous point is the Sacred Heart Cathedral, La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre, with its beautiful onion-shaped dome. The interior is actually a succession of distinctive altars arranged in a circle. Outside, various seasonal events such as October’s Vendanges of Montmartre (Grape Harvest Festival) bring together craftsmen with purveyors of fine food to create a fun festival atmosphere.

But the Montmartre’s single greatest “claim to fame” (among many) may well be the wealth of artists who once lived here, to take advantage of the historically low rents. A bit further from the city center, today a short metro ride whisks you to the rest of central Paris in minutes. But the charms of this area are in evidence everywhere you look, from cafés and restaurants to galleries, book stores and coffee shops. Many experienced travelers to Paris count the Montmartre as their favorite part of the city, with good reason.

The Montparnasse is the Left Bank’s answer to the Montmartre. This more decidedly upscale area was once the home of Joan Miro, Degas, Duchamp, Modigiliani, and countless others. Artist communities such as La Ruche (literally “the beehive”), offered spectacularly affordable accommodation for some of the 20th century’s most famous artists. Today, after various attempts at narrowly escaping demolition, it is still home to a number of artist studios.

Of the Montparnasse, Chagall said: “I wanted to see with my own eyes what I had heard of from so far away: this revolution of the eye, this rotation of colors, which spontaneously and astutely merge with one another in a flow of conceived lines. That could not be seen in my town. The sun of Art then shone only on Paris.”

And Jean Cocteau said, “Poverty is a luxury in Montparnasse.”

Today, this decidedly affluent area contains central Paris’ tallest building, the Montparnasse Tower (Tour Montparnasse), and a number of crepe restaurants and stands offering authentic Breton-style crepes, in addition to a wealth of sights.

But the Montparnasse and the Montmartre are not the only parts of Paris offering a rich artistic legacy. The Latin Quarter, for example, has also historically attracted artists from around the world. And Paris’ place as a home to artists is not confined to the past. No, it is very much alive. Many artists still count Paris as their home, from the Montmartre to the north down to the Montparnasse in the south, across to the Latin Quarter and all points in between.

Look for future articles as we explore Paris’ equally rich literary history, and tell you where you can see the works of the world’s greatest on display in this exciting, vibrant city.