Crowded and colorful, not very large and sometimes too noisy, Place du Tertre is the square most popular with tourists. When Paris became a mecca for the artistic bohemia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Place du Tertre was the epicenter of their lives. Almost every house here is legendary, because one of the geniuses once lived in it. The many cafes on the square all vie with one another over which of them Picasso loved most, where Dali was a more frequent guest, and where Hemingway and Fitzgerald threw their noisy parties. The fact that the icons of the "lost generation" partied hard and lived recklessly in the halls of these cafes and bistros a hundred years ago is apparently supposed to justify menu prices that are exorbitant even by Paris standards. Still, having a cup of coffee while sitting in your idol's favorite cafe is priceless, because it's about emotions and impressions, not the cost.
The entire square is packed tightly with the outdoor tables of those very cafes and the open-air displays of dozens of artists. From the local portrait painters and caricaturists, you can get your portrait or caricature done in 40 minutes and then proudly tell your friends that you were drawn by a real Parisian artist from Place du Tertre. And right next to the square stands one of the oldest churches in Paris - Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, built back in the 12th century on the grounds of a vanished Benedictine monastery.
