What is the best 15 minutes you can spend in Paris? Eating the skate salad at
Wepler, on Place de Clichy, is obviously one option. Staring at Caravaggio’s Death
of the Virgin in the Louvre is, of course, another.
But if your heart is sound and you are feeling energetic, then I would
seriously consider my vigorous 15-minute walking tour of Toulouse-Lautrec’s
Paris. It’s fabulous exercise. Free. And in a quarter of an hour, it scoots
you all the way round the origins of the modern world.
I discovered it by accident while filming a biography of Toulouse-Lautrec in
and around Montmartre for Channel 4. We knew all these places we needed to
film, places that were crucial to Lautrec’s story, and we were ticking them
off one after another when it became clear that we were never travelling
very far. Indeed, we were hardly moving.
Lautrec had unusually short legs, as you probably know, and walking was
difficult for him. So, one thought was that he didn’t travel because he
couldn’t. But I don’t think that was it. I think he stayed put in the 18th
arrondissement because there was no reason for him to go anywhere else.
Everything he needed was here. Unclad girls. Excellent food. Hundreds of
absinthe bars. And filling the air in Montmartre was that irresistible
perfume of being absolutely in the happening place. All around him, the
modern world was being invented. And he was right in the middle of it.
In the film, you’ll see me walking my little legs off trying to keep up with
him as I visit all the locations that were important to Lautrec in the
20-odd years he lived in Paris and changed modern art. Past the Moulin Rouge
I hurtle, up the hill to Montmartre, in and out of La Bonne Franquette, and
back down to the very naughty Place Pigalle. Because I am moving at high
speed, and there is no time to impart much locational information, I have
prepared a slow-mo account for you below that you might wish to consider.
Start at Nos 19, 19 bis and 21 Rue Fontaine, just down from the Moulin Rouge,
which are the first three places where Lautrec lived when he arrived in
Paris from the south of France in 1881. Pay particular attention to No 19.
Degas’s studio was on the ground floor. Up on the third was where Lautrec’s
pal René Grenier lodged, with his “wife”, Lily. The three of them formed an
adventurous ménage à trois, and some hair-raising erotic
drawings of Lautrec in action at No 19 have recently come to light. You
might wish to replay these in your mind as you head up to the Moulin Rouge
at the top of the road.
The Moulin Rouge you know about. But as you stride past the notorious red
windmill, try to take in some of the reproductions of Lautrec’s posters that
decorate the outside. They are, after all, the most revolutionary posters
ever designed. A useful thought to carry with you past the Moulin Rouge is
that Lautrec’s posters appeared in Paris at the same time as electricity.
Later in the day, if you get the chance to return, do pop into the great
nightclub and have a look at the posters hanging on the walls of the
champagne bar on the left. These are the originals.
Thirty yards down the road, at 104 Boulevard de Clichy, are some iron gates
and a sign advertising a dance class. Look through the gates at the large
windows on the left. That’s where Lautrec studied at the studio of Fernan
Cormon. Van Gogh was another pupil.
Turn immediately right and head up the hill along Rue Caulaincourt, past the
Cimetière de Montmartre (where, incidentally, Degas, Zola, Stendhal and
Berlioz are buried), until you reach the corner of Rue Tourlaque. See the
huge windows on the fifth floor of No 7? That was Lautrec’s studio. All the
posters were designed there. It’s where the paintings of the brothels and
the lesbians were done. And where Lautrec’s notorious Friday-night orgies
were held. Next door was where Suzanne Valadon lived, the great love of
Lautrec’s life. She was absolutely gorgeous. If you don’t believe me, then
find time to dive into the Musée de Montmartre, at the top of the hill, and
search out the nude photographs they have of her. Phew.
()
The next bit is tough, as you have to climb up Rue Lepic, that absurdly steep
road that heads into the heart of Montmartre. How Lautrec, with his dodgy
legs, managed to get up here every night, I do not understand. The big
windmill on the left used to be a notorious cancan dive called Le Moulin de
la Galette, where the girls were famous for “forgetting” to put on their
underwear. This is where La Goulue started out, before becoming the most
celebrated dancer at the Moulin Rouge and appearing in Lautrec’s first
poster. She danced with a guy called Valentine the Boneless, as the cancan
was originally a mixed dance. He is also in the poster. He’s at the front —
the thin chap with the hooked nose.
At the top of the hill, on Rue des Saules, is La Bonne Franquette, a touristy
lunch venue now, but back in those days an absinthe bar at which Lautrec
would get legless with his pal Van Gogh. His favourite cocktail was called
the Earthquake: two parts absinthe, one part red wine and a large dollop of
cognac. From here, it is sharply downhill — head for Place Pigalle, which
you cannot miss, as the streets are suddenly full of grubby hotels and
underdressed ladies looking cold. In Lautrec’s day, Place Pigalle was the
model market for artists. It’s where the painters of Montmartre would come
down to find girls to paint. Lautrec’s most striking model, Carmen Gaudin,
was discovered here. She’s the one with the impossibly red hair.
Shoot across this unpleasant square as quickly as you can manage and head down
the Rue Frochot until you reach a corner with a strange art-nouveau mosaic
on the left, and beside it a huge pair of gates labelled Avenue Frochot.
Behind these gates is Lautrec’s last house. When he moved here, in 1897, he
was in his early thirties, but had only a few years to live. These days,
it’s an incredibly posh private street. Jean-Paul Gaultier lives there.
Turn right, down Rue de Douai, where Lautrec’s mother stayed when she came to
Paris to look after her ailing alcoholic son, and after a couple of hundred
yards you are back at Rue Fontaine, at No 19. I was out of shape when I
attempted the journey in the film. I reckon you could do it in 12 minutes.
Travel brief
Getting there: Eurostar (0870 518 6188, www.eurostar.com) has returns
from London Waterloo (and Ashford) to Paris Gare du Nord from £59.
Alternatively, there are flights to Paris from 20 UK and Irish airports.
Airlines include Air France (0870 142 4343, www.airfrance.co.uk), British
Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), EasyJet (www.easyjet.com), Jet2 (0871
226 1737, www.jet2.com) and Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).
Where to stay: south of Montmartre is the Hôtel Victoires Opéra (56 Rue
de Montorgueil; 00 33-1 42 36 41 08, www.hotelvictoiresopera.com), a cosy
boutique hotel on a pedestrianised street; doubles from £144. Or try the
Timhotel Montmartre (11 Rue Ravignan; 01 42 55 74 79, www.timhotel.com),
just a few minutes’ walk from the Lautrec sights. It has good doubles and a
knockout location on a shaded square; doubles from £50.
Further information: visit www.parisinfo.com or www.franceguide.com.
And watch Waldemar’s programme: Toulouse-Lautrec: The Full Story
(Channel 4, Sat Dec 15, 7.30pm).
