Montmartre residents denounce the Paris neighborhood's 'Disneyfication'

LeMonde

2 days ago

From the public bench on Place Dalida, just behind the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, one can witness a peculiar spectacle at any time of day. Dozens of Spanish, Indian, Chinese and American tourists line up to pose next to the statue of the singer Dalida. Not just any pose: Each holds her breasts. The gesture is unusual and the faces are laughing, as stroking Dalida's chest is said to bring good luck in love.
On Rue de l'Abreuvoir, the same lines of tourists form – this time, to snap a photo in front of La Maison Rose, a café featured in the American series Emily in Paris. Further down, on Rue des Trois-Frères, another queue blocks a narrow sidewalk: It's for the vintage photo booth, a social media sensation.
Three places Emily forgot to visit in Paris
The Carnavalet Museum
Anyone who loves Paris should go here. Dedicated to the history of the capital, the beautiful building in the Marais reopened in 2021 after four and a half years of work. On the first floor, the collection of signs recalls the city's commercial vocation, long before the high-end brands Emily loved: Au griffon (furniture dealer), A la couronne d'or (innkeeper), and so on. In the garden, a tempting café would be an ideal setting for the series.
23, rue de Sévigné, Paris 3 e. Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. Free admission for the permanent collections.
Carnavalet.paris.fr
The National Museum of the Middle Ages
Not far from Emily's home, this institution reopened in 2022, after... eleven years of work. After the kiss given to Gabriel under the big clock at the Musée d'Orsay, the American could take her new darling, Alfie, there. We're pretty sure she'd love the hyper-stylized lady with the unicorn on her large six-panel tapestry. As for the frigidarium, it is a unique testimony to Gallo-Roman baths, even before the advent of the Middle Ages. Paris was then Lutetia.
28, rue du Sommerard, Paris 5 e. Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30 am to 6:15 pm. From €10 to €12.
Musee-moyenage.com
Bourse de commerce - Pinault Collection
At Les Halles, the Bourse de Commerce has long remained closed to visitors. Since 2021, the billionaire François Pinault, owner of Gucci (Emily is wearing a Gucci bag), has been the tenant for fifty years. He exhibits part of his contemporary art collection there. Restored and transformed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the site is also worth seeing for its spectacular glass dome, around which wraps the allegorical fresco of world trade created in the 19 th century by four different painters.
2, rue de Viarmes, Paris 1 er. Wednesday to Monday, 11 am to 7 pm. From €10 to €14.
Pinaultcollection.com
Welcome to photogenic Montmartre, with its hidden gardens, windmills, vineyard, funicular, street artists – and millions of visitors from around the globe. In this neighborhood where ice cream, crêpe and miniature Eiffel Tower vendors thrive, even the traffic seems orchestrated by Disneyland. Sidecars, 2CVs, Méharis and tuk-tuks crisscross the Butte for a few dozen euros per person, crossing paths with tourist trains – there are five in total.
But in recent months, a fracture has appeared in this fairy-tale setting. In this neighborhood of 27,000 residents, banners have popped up in windows: "Residents forgotten!"; "Let Montmartre residents live"; "Behind these facades, there are people." School buildings display signs: "No to class closures!" Street signs announcing pedestrianization have been spray-painted with "Stop." In just a few months, overtourism in Montmartre has become a political issue, taken up by residents' associations, business owners and elected officials from across the political spectrum.