Walking in the Nouvelle Athenes

Discover the home of Gustave Moreau, now one of Paris’s most eccentric museums, and artist Toulouse-Lautrec’s famous Moulin Rouge.

At place d’Estienne d’Orves is Eglise de la Trinité (1), a church that looks like a wedding cake. Head east on rue Saint-Lazare and turn left onto rue de la Rochefoucauld. Musée Gustave Moreau (2, 14 rue de la Rochefoucauld) was the eccentric Symbolist painter’s home. Moreau designed the studio museum himself and filled it from floor to ceiling with his paintings, giving it a very personal feel. He was obsessed with detail, and his pictures are full of imaginary palaces, strange plants, romantic princesses, and mythical beasts. Downstairs, visit the tiny apartment where Moreau lived with his parents. Turn right out of the museum, right onto rue La Bruyère, then left onto rue Henry Monnier, which forms one side of place Gustave Toudouze. The No Stress Café (3, 2 place Gustave Toudouze) is a laid-back place for lunch. Many artists lived around here in the 19^th century . Painter and poster artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was fascinated by the local cabarets and music halls. To visit his best-known haunt, continue up rue Monnier, turn left onto rue Victor Masse, right onto rue de Douai (where budding musicians might want to check out the many electric guitar shops), and right onto rue Blanche. Ahead, you will see the Moulin Rouge (4, 82 blvd de Clichy) – or “red windmill” – the cabaret that Toulouse-Lautrec made famous with his portraits of cancan dancers (you’ll find reproductions of his posters at local souvenir shops, and some of his oils at Musée d’Orsay.

Metro Stations : Blanche (Line 2), Pigalle (Line 2,12), Saint-Georges (Line 12), Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (Line 12), Trinité (Line 12)