40 square metres of hand-painted ceramic tiles - 'I love you' in 312 languages, created in 2000 by Frédéric Baron and Claire Kito. The red fragments scattered across the tiles represent the pieces of a broken heart — love exists in every language but pain is universal. A brief, beautiful opener before the history deepens.

The most important building in 20th-century art history that nobody knows. Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon here in 1907 - the painting that launched Cubism and changed everything. Also resident at various points: Modigliani, Juan Gris, Max Jacob, Gertrude Stein's circle. Burned down in 1970 and rebuilt — the original floor plan is traced in the pavement outside. Picasso arrived in Montmartre in 1904 with nothing. He left in 1912 already famous.

The Lapin Agile cabaret has been on this site since 1860 - Picasso, Utrillo, Verlaine and Apollinaire all drank here. It still runs shows of old French chansons, the same repertoire it had in 1900. The Clos Montmartre is the last active vineyard in Paris - 1,850 Pinot Noir and Gamay vines on a steep slope, producing around 1,000 bottles a year. In 1933, when the city threatened to demolish the hill to build apartments, the local mayor planted a vineyard - because agricultural land couldn't be expropriated. The wine is deliberately terrible. That was never the point.

The little pink house that launched a thousand postcards. Built in the early 1900s and immortalised by Maurice Utrillo, who painted it repeatedly from the street outside. Tucked at the corner of Rue de l'Abreuvoir and Rue Lepic, it sits in one of the quietest and most beautiful corners of the hill — the kind of spot that makes visitors feel they've found something secret, even though millions have stood in exactly the same spot.

Van Gogh lived at 54 Rue Lepic with his brother Theo from 1886 to 1888 - the period he discovered Impressionism and completely transformed his palette from dark browns to the vivid yellows and blues of his mature work. There is no official plaque. Paris has never marked this building. The Moulin de la Galette nearby is one of two surviving windmills of Montmartre, Renoir painted it in 1876 in Bal du Moulin de la Galette, now hanging in the Musée d'Orsay. Van Gogh painted over 200 works in 21 months on this street. He left for Arles in 1888 and never returned.

The basilica was commissioned in 1875 as a national act of penance after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune. The Paris Commune of 1871 - the first workers' government in history - began here on Montmartre, when the National Guard refused to hand over their cannons. The Commune lasted 72 days. When it fell, up to 30,000 Parisians were executed in the streets. The basilica built as an apology for their defeat stands directly above their graves. The white travertine stone bleaches itself with rain - it never gets dirty. Inside, an eternal adoration vigil has been maintained every hour of every day since 1885.

Place du Tertre was the village square of old Montmartre - today full of portrait painters selling to tourists, but Utrillo painted it dozens of times when it was empty and silent, and Pissarro sketched here. The Montmartre Museum on Rue Cortot is one block away - Renoir's studio is preserved inside. We descend via Rue Norvins, the oldest paved street in Montmartre, lined with ivy-covered walls and the last authentic village architecture. Best photos of the tour.

End the day the Parisian way - seated with a glass of French wine, a selection of cheese and charcuterie, and the stories of Montmartre still fresh in your mind. Your guide will bring the neighbourhood's history to life one final time as you raise a glass to the hill that inspired the world