Invite: A visit to the Montmartre Vineyard

Did you know there’s a vineyard in Montmartre?

That’s right, up on the north side of the hill you can find the Vignes du Clos Montmartre, a tiny vineyard that produces real Parisian wine every year.

The vineyard is closed to the public, but visible through the fences and gates – so it proves to be a popular tourist attraction even though no one really goes inside. I’ve never been in there, nor tasted the wine. Have you? I didn’t think so.

But guess what? I have the keys!

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OK, that’s not strictly true, I don’t have the keys, but I do have access to the vineyard thanks to our friends at Secret Journeys. And I want to take you inside.

So, if only for an hour, let’s escape these lockdown, curfew, pandemic blues and see something new in Paris.

Here’s what I propose: On Friday 19th March at 3pm Paris time, I’ll press the “Go Live” button on YouTube. That’s 10am Friday for New York, 7am LA, 10pm Perth, and 1am in Sydney (so technically on Saturday). Confused? Don’t be, click the YouTube link below and it’ll have a countdown, you can even set a reminder.

You can watch it for free on the link below. Just press the big play button at the right time. Or you can click here to watch it via YouTube and you can even see all the comments streaming through in real time. It’s much more fun that way.

So what can you expect from the walk?

Well, the idea is to start the tour at the Sacré-Coeur and to share a background on Montmartre and the vineyard.

We’ll then walk through the famed Place du Tertre, which typically is fully of active artists (who knows, it may be empty. It might even be raining!).

All the while I’ll have an expert guide from Secret Journeys on hand to explain it all. We’ll learn a little about local artist Francisque Poulbot and the street kids of Montmartre that he made famous. There might even be a Poulbot-related surprise thrown in.

Lastly, we’ll arrive at the Vineyard, go through the gates, explore as much as we can, and even chat with the vineyard’s president Éric Sureau.

If all goes to plan, we’ll end the video with a taste test of the produce, which is extra fun for me as it’s the 61st item on my 2021 Paris Bucket list, as you can see here. I’ll be giving a bottle away to a lucky Patreon member too 🙂

So, I hope to see you for the live show on Friday. Please invite your friends and share the link. These guys have invited me because they believe I can spread the word. Let’s prove them right 🙂

Note: Secret Journeys offer a similar walk to this – that you can do privately. Here’s more information.