Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [102]
STADE DE FRANCE Map
08 92 70 09 00; www.stadefrance.com; rue Francis de Pressensé, ZAC du Cornillon Nord, 93216 St-Denis la Plaine; adult/student & 6-11yr €10/8, family pass €29, under 6yr free; tours on the hour in French 10am-5pm daily Apr-Aug, 4 to 5 daily Sep-Mar, in English 10.30am & 2.30pm Apr-Aug; St-Denis-Porte de Paris
The 80,000-seat Stadium of France, just south of central St-Denis and in full view from rue Gabriel Péri, was built for the 1998 football World Cup, which France won by miraculously defeating Brazil 3–0. The futuristic and quite beautiful structure, with a roof the size of place de la Concorde, is used for football and rugby matches, major gymnastic events and big-ticket music concerts. It can be visited on guided tours only.
Return to beginning of chapter
MONTMARTRE ART ATTACK
Montmartre (from the French words mont for hill and martyr) has been a place of legend ever since St Denis was executed here c AD 250 and began his headless journey on foot to the village north of Paris that still bears his name Click here. In recent times the Montmartre of myth has been resurrected by music, books and especially films such as Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (Amelie in English; 2002), which presented the district in various shades of rose, and Moulin Rouge (2001), which also made it pretty but gave it a bit more edge.
For centuries Montmartre was a simple country village filled with the moulins (mills) that supplied Paris with its flour. But when it was incorporated into the capital in 1860, its picturesque charm and low rents attracted painters and writers – especially after the Communard uprising of 1871 (Click here), which began here. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were Montmartre’s heyday, when Toulouse-Lautrec drew his favourite cancan dancers and Picasso and Braque introduced the world to cubism.
After WWI such creative activity shifted to Montparnasse, but Montmartre retained an upbeat ambience that all the tourists in the world still can’t spoil. The real attractions here, apart from the great views from the Butte de Montmartre (Montmartre Hill), are the area’s little parks and steep, winding cobblestone streets, many of whose houses seem about to be engulfed by creeping vines and ivy.
In English-speaking countries, Montmartre’s mystique of unconventionality has been magnified by the supposed notoriety of places like the Moulin Rouge, a nightclub on the edge of the Pigalle district that was founded in 1889 and is known for its scantily clad – ooooh la la! – chorus girls. The garish nightlife that Toulouse-Lautrec loved to portray has spread along blvd de Clichy, and Pigalle has become decidedly sleazy, though really it’s pretty tame stuff.
1 Moulin Rouge Begin the walk at the Blanche metro station. Diagonally opposite to the left is the legendary Moulin Rouge beneath its trademark red windmill.
2 Musée de l’Érotisme Appropriately located to the right is the Musée de l’Érotisme, an institution that portrays itself as educational rather than titillating. Yeah, right.
3 Café des Deux Moulins Walk up rue Lepic, which is lined with food shops, and halfway up on the left is the Café des Deux Moulins ( 01 42 54 90 50; 15 rue Lepic, 18e; 7am-2am), where our heroine Amélie worked in the eponymous film.
4 Van Gogh’s house Follow the curve to the west; Théo Van Gogh owned the house at No 54; his brother, the artist Vincent, stayed with him on the 3rd floor for two years from 1886.
5 Moulin de la Galette Further along rue Lepic are Montmartre’s famous twinned