European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 9, 1959, Darmstadt, Hesse                                It Mem he a the Gaudy bars and strip tease joints of Pialle have obscured the Rich history and Tranquility of the former artists Quarter. By Don Walter staff writers a photos by Merle Hunter # re speak French declares a sign in the shop window on the Avenue Junot in Paris Montmartre Quarter. The shopkeeper is exaggerating of course but he does have a Point. You hear nearly every language spoken in the place do to Shire Mortn Sartre s Central Square. And barmaids and Salesgirl Are As accustomed to being addressed in Germanor Spanish As they Are to hearing the argot of the truck drive from the Porte Deantin warehouse area. " Montmartre once the Garden spot of Paris had a bit of Rural Charm that parisians once regarded As the last space of Green amid a sea of Gray Stone. The crooked streets and crumbling stuccoed houses still Are there but Montmartre Many of the streets near the Summit of Montmartre Are simply Broad stairways for pedestrian use. An artist paints the tiny but famed Lapin agile cafe. Place Pialle is the Center of the tourist trap area which some visitors mistake As typical of the entire Quarter. Once a sleepy rustic and sometimes artistic Community by itself today suffers an undeserved bad reputation. Ever since the Days of Toulouse Lautrec tourists have been searching for the real Montmartre. More often than not they leave Paris disillusioned by what they had thought represented All that was Bohemian and quaint about the French capital. They found instead a concentration of Girlie shows and second rate bars and Deaneries. But this is because most of them looked no farther than the notorious Pialle distr it Alpini the Boulevard de Clichy bet Leeni if place Blanche and place Pialle an area of tourist traps. The real Montmartre is however still a trans Wiir neighbourhood where All is not tourist buses arid Cotton Candy stands. I you explore the Hill getting away from the Boulevard or the place Clu Vertre  still detect what some parisians insist is the original Charm of the Quarter that until Ioc years ago was a separate com Mune with a cow pasture separating i from Paris proper. Montmartre is a Hill the Only real onegin Paris rising 330 feet above the Seine. Its name comes from a legend of. Early Christendom. It was the mount of the martyrs be cause St. Denis first Bishop of Paris was beheaded there. The Story goes that the Saint first was tortured in Paris then taken toward the Temple of Mercury that overlooked the City from the top of the Hill. But St. Denis remained Calm and com posed. So enraged were the executioners they beheaded him before they reached the top of the Butte. Then a Miracle occurred. St., Denis picked up his head an walked toward the Hilltop. The Porte St. Denis an Arch that once was one of the Gates of Paris stands at the site where the Miracle was supposed to have take place. Montmartre did not become a part of Paris until 1877, which accounts for its Rural atmosphere even today. Carrying Onan old tradition is a fall wine festival in a tiny Vineyard that still  the last Century Montmartre attracted aspiring Young painters drawn by the picturesqueness of the Quarter and thelow Cost of living and from the Garrett came works of Art that today Are almost priceless. The Quartier was the Birthplace of the impressionist school of painting founded by such Montmartre dwellers As Renoir Degas Cezanne Manet and Monet. Lautrec immortalized the area s night life in his paintings and posters. By the Start of world War i the Artis Colony had begun its shift to the left Bank where it is entered today but som Young painters still prefer to live and work on the Butte perhaps encouraged by the one member of. The old guard who kept on painting the Quarter s narrow streets until his death four years ago Maurice Utrillo. Montmartre residents say the Quarter was everything. Europe s largest movie House famous old night clubs like the Moulin Rouge one of Europe s few remaining indoor circuses the Sacre Coeur Church the Vineyard and even a Quarry where the original plaster of Paris was mined., a fashion Model and photographer s aide holding reflector at work on a Montmartre Street. The White dome and Spires of Sucre Coeur crowning the highest Hill in the City have become almost As much a Symbol of Paris As the Eiffel Tower in its southwestern Corner is Mont Martre s famous cemetery where Many famous personages of the past Are buried including the writers Dumas the younger and Theophile Gautier and the composer Jacques Offenbach and Hector Berlioz. There Are quiet alleys and squares in Montmartre that Are too often missed by Paris visitors whose Only encounter with the Quarter comes during a Paris by nigh tour or a hurry up look at the place Dutertre. Others have unpleasant memories As result of the characters they have encountered. Take the Street artists for example who offer paintings for what would seem to be a reasonable Price if they were originals. The idea is to set up an easel in the place Dutertre or on a nearby Street Start to sketch the Sacre Coeur and wait for a crowd to gather. The artist announces he has a few other paintings ready for Sale. These he display sat a nearby cafe and the tourist is tricked into carrying off a reproduction he could have bought legitimately for a tenth of the Price elsewhere. The Best Way to see the real Montmartre is to take a walk up the Hill avoiding Pialle or the place de Clichy which is to Paris what Broadway is to new York. In two or three hours you can walk fro the place Blanche up the Hill through a neighbourhood that has t changed great Yin three or four generations. You begin the climb toward the Sacre Coeur by the Rue Lepic bordered by open air shops which after about three blocks begins to wind around the Hill. The Moulin de la Galette the Windmill made famous by a Renoir painting is the first major landmark along the walk. Once there were 18 windmills on the Hill but this and one other Are the Only two remaining. A dance Hall in front of it obscures the original appearance. Then follow the Rue Girardon up Hill to the Rue St. Vincent that leads to the Lapin agile a still authentic Paris cabaret of  Era even though it is primarily a tourist attraction now. Across the Street is Montmartre s an Paris Only Vineyard. The annual Harvest is not a profitable affair but it is continued As a tradition a Holdover from the Days when this was still a Rural Community. For years the Vineyard Lay Idle but the plot about a Block Square was re planted in 1933 and Ever since the vendange or harvesting has been cause for a fall Celebration. You reach the Summit of the Hill by Way of the Rue Des Saules and Rue Novins which runs into the place Dutertre main Square of the old Village. The Basilica of the Sacre Coeur is the Climax of the walk. Built after the defeat of France in  of 1870 with Prussia French catholics financed its construction through a nationwide subscription. It was built both As an expression of contrition and Hope. Work started in 1876, but not until 1919 was the Church consecrated. Its romanesque byzantine design frequently is criticized. Although it con forms with nothing else in Paris it i Majestic standing High above the City an seen from everywhere that Trees or build Ings Don t Block the View. The stars and a webs Sandoy 91959 the stars and stripes tag 19