Getting around

Getting around the Hotel Across the images and accounts that follow, we invite you to discover and rediscover the History of our neighborhood and of Hotel Monte Carlo. Original and welcoming Hotel in a neighborhood charged with History in the heart of the mythical city of Paris.
	In 1726, a signpost bearing this inscription was placed at the entrance to the faubourg Montmartre: It’s thanks to the expansion of Saint Eustache Parish, that the surrounding marshes were dried and cleared to make way for local market cultures.
	The faubourg Montmartre name is connected to the procession ceremony that took place between Saint Eustache Church and the Butte de Montmartre. This procession started close to the church in Montmartre street. Etymology specifies that Montmartre means mount of the martyr. Faubourg was in fact the faux bourg, or false bourg, meaning exterior to the bourg. One continued along the faubourg Montmartre street, then up the Martyres street, until the Butte de Montmartre where the procession came to a halt. The Butte of Montmartre, well before the christening of Lutèce (the former name of Paris) was always a place of cult: the Gaul Druids, the Romans with their temples dedicated to Mars and to Mercury... It’s only in the XIXth Century after the Paris “Commune” events, that the Sacré Coeur Basilica (Sacred Heart Cathedral) was erected.
Faubourg Montmartre Street

	At the current number 1, there was a small house, inhabited by a certain Tronchin, the inventor of the folding table...
Comte de Lautréamont Ecrivain et poèt	At number 7 resided the Count de Lautréamont, whose real name was Isidor Lucien Ducasse, born on 4th April 1846 at Montevideo (Uruguay) and deceased on 24th November 1870 at Paris. Better known by his pseudonym: the Count de Lautréamont. Amongst his more famous works: “Les Chants de Maldoror”.
	At number 21, was the Couvent de la Visitation (Convent of the Visitation), sold during the 1789 Revolution, in the name of the confiscation of the clergy’s wealth. A curious low profile sculpture from the convent and dating back to 1720 was conserved and placed on the facade at the angle of the Grange Batelière street... One can still see it today, on the wall of the Police Station.
	At number 42 was the “Passage des Deux Soeurs” or passage of the Two Sisters, because the owners were indeed the Deveau sisters. This passage or alley has equally been known under other names: “Cour des Deux Soeurs” or the Courtyard of the Two Sisters, “Cour des Chiens” or the Courtyard of the Dogs, “Cul-de-sac Coypel” or Coypel Deadend. Before this passage had been opened, there existed at this location in the XVIIIth Century the “Grand Salon” – a popular ballroom.
	And at number 44 faubourg Montmartre, stands the Hotel Monte Carlo, of which a description remains in Louis Aragon’s autobiographical book Le paysan de Paris, that appeared in 1926. Here is an extract : « Au-delà de la palissade, jusqu’au corridor traversier, s’étend l’Hôtel de Monte Carlo, qui dépasse ces limites aux étages, et qui franchit même transversalement la galerie à l’entrée du passage, évoquant invinciblement pour moi à ce niveau l’image du pont des Soupirs, tel que je le connais d’après les cartes postales. Au rez-de-chaussée, l’Hôtel de Monte Carlo laisse apercevoir par une façade vitrée à petits carreaux Louis XVI, aux barreaux blancs, un grand hall large et bas, tout à fait mélancolique, où se morfondent sous un lustre de cristal à pendeloques des plantes vertes et des voyageurs. Ceux-ci dans les fauteuils de paille lisent les journaux exotiques qu’on ne trouve à Paris que sur les boulevards. Monde cosmopolite assez particulier et particulièrement calme, souvent pitoresque, et presque toujours fatigué. Ces joueurs lassés n’echouent ici qu’après de belles expériences, mais qu’ils ont usé le globe avec leurs pas traînards ! Certains s’asseyent dans la galerie comme à une terrasse. Ils ont l’air d’attendre. Quoi ? Ce bonheur désiré... ».
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The passages of Paris In the faubourg Montmartre street a series of passages led even as far as the Palais Royal. These locations were valued by the Parisian ladies, because of shelter from dust, mud, carriages and horses of the noisy streets; they were mostly constructed in the XIXth Century. There have existed at one time more than 170 in the capital. Today there are no more than 29, essentially in the 9th, 1st and 2nd Paris city wards. Most of the passages were destroyed by the architect Haussmann during his urban redevelopment of Paris in the second half of the XIXth Century.
	The Verdeau passage was edified in 1847 and owes its name to its promoter. This passage is one of the more illuminated, marked by a high glass partition in fishbone form and a purged neoclassical design.
	The Jouffroy passage was edified in 1847. The famous Grévin Museum, dedicated to wax effigies of personalities, contributes in large part to its success since its inauguration on 10th January 1882.
	The Jouffroy passage is a witness to the important technological evolution of the XIXth Century and of the mastery of iron structures; it’s the first passage constructed entirely in metal and in glass. Only the decorative elements are in wood. It was equally the first passage heated from underground. A clock decorated in stucco overhangs the alley.
	The passage of the Panoramas: It was constructed in 1799-1800 where there was the Hotel Montmorency-Luxembourg. Its name comes from an attraction installed above the entrance: two rotundas on which were painted panoramic representations of the landscapes of the large cities. The rotundas were destroyed in 1831.
Historical monuments situated between Passages
	The Bourse (Palais Brongniart) or Stock Exchange Within a few minutes on foot from Hotel Monte Carlo, the Palais Brongniart (Paris Stock Exchange), became the capital’s financial market centre, until recently (13th July 1987). The Faubourg Montmartre neighborhood (right bank of the Seine River) and its surroundings have for a number of centuries been the seat of financial power (banks, insurance companies), the news media (written dailies : le Petit Journal, Le Monde, Figaro, l’Equipe, France Soir, etc…) as well as of international commerce world trade.
	The Bibliothèque Nationale de France - French National Library Royal library, then imperial before becoming national, the Bibliothèque nationale de France has as mission to collect and to conserve all that is edited in France and on whatever back-up, in order to place these at the disposal of researchers and professionals. Too constrained within its walls for a quarter of a century, as a result of the increasingly rapid growth of the collections and in research development, this library established on the Richelieu street, was having difficulties fulfilling its mission. In 1998 the Tolbiac project was launched by french republic President Mitterrand in order to remedy this dysfunction. The Richelieu site shelters today most of the specialized collections: maps, seals, photographs, manuscripts, Western and Eastern divisions, coins, medals and antiques; the music department, the theatrical arts and a reference hall.
	The Galerie Vivienne This is one of the most beautiful and attractive covered passage of Paris. This passage was inaugurated in 1826. It’s an association of pilasters, arches and cornice mouldings, dedicated to the various symbols of success (crowns of laurel-leaf, sheaves of corn and palm, of wealth (horn of plenty) and to commerce (Mercury’s caduceus). The mosaic groundwork is the work of Faccina. At n°13 of the passage, once lived in 1840 Vidocq (renowned robber converted into Police chief at the start of the XIXth).
	Palais Royal Situated a couple of steps from the Louvre museum, the Palais Royal was constructed at the behest of Cardinal Richelieu in 1633. Bequeathed to the Crown as from 1636, the Palais becomes a royal residence… After your walk, you can sit and rest in this magnificent garden or in one of the coffee shops of the Palais Royal garden.
	The Comédie-Française Founded in 1680 and set since 1799 in the heart of the Palais Royale. The best known dramatist attached to the Comédie-Française is Molière.
	And for the valliant…
	The Louvre The Louvre needs no introduction. The largest Paris museum is within twenty minutes walk of Hotel Monte Carlo. It’s one of the oldest museums and the third largest in the world in terms of surface area. The Louvre possesses a long history of the artistic and historic conservation of France.
	The Tuileries Gardens The most important and ancient French garden of Paris. Planted by Catherine de Médicis in 1546. These days, numerous chairs are freely put at the disposal of tourists and strollers, throughout the garden cum park.
We have now completed a daily round of Paris’ umbilical cord, stretching between the Grands Boulevards neighborhood, the Palais Royal and the Louvre museum. Indeed a jolly Romanesque experience.

Getting around the Hotel

Across the images and accounts that follow, we invite you to discover and rediscover the History of our neighborhood and of Hotel Monte Carlo.

Original and welcoming Hotel in a neighborhood charged with History in the heart of the mythical city of Paris.

Faubourg Montmartre Street

The passages of Paris

In the faubourg Montmartre street a series of passages led even as far as the Palais Royal.

Historical monuments situated between Passages

We have now completed a daily round of Paris’ umbilical cord, stretching between the Grands Boulevards neighborhood, the Palais Royal and the Louvre museum. Indeed a jolly Romanesque experience.