Montmartre

Montmartre is the one part of Paris that still feels like a village: cobblestones, steep stairways, a working vineyard, artists’ studios stacked up the hill. For a couple session it gives you texture almost nowhere else in the city has: the light falls sideways through narrow streets and does half the work for you.

I steer clear of Place du Tertre and the front steps of Sacré-Cœur during the day, that’s where the tour groups pool. The side streets, rue de l’Abreuvoir, rue Saint-Rustique, allée des Brouillards, stay quiet even at noon, and that’s where most of the session happens.