Montmartre and Northern Paris

Begin on the cobblestone heights of Montmartre, where Picasso, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec once lived and painted among winding lanes and sweeping city views. Step inside the Romano-Byzantine Sacré-Cœur Basilica to see its vast apse mosaic, then climb the dome for a 360-degree panorama stretching 30 kilometres on clear days. Descend toward the Grands Boulevards to explore Musée Grévin, whose 450 wax figures share space with the Palais des Mirages, a kaleidoscopic mirror room salvaged from the 1900 World's Fair. Continue to the Museum of Arts and Crafts, housed in a medieval priory where Foucault's original pendulum still swings beneath Gothic vaults and early flying machines hang from the ceiling. Wind down along Rue Montorgueil, a pedestrian market street trading since the 12th century — stop at Stohrer, the oldest pâtisserie in Paris, open since 1730. End the day at Saint-Eustache Church, whose hybrid Gothic-Renaissance nave hosts free organ recitals every Sunday at 17:00. The Museum of Arts and Crafts is closed on Mondays; Musée Grévin is closed on 25 December, 1 January, and 1 May.