The Stray Cats of Montmartre: Feline Residents of an Artistic Paris

Montmartre, the hill in northern Paris, has been a gathering place for bohemian artists since the nineteenth century — home once to Renoir, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Less well known is that it is also home to many feline artists. The cafés and painters' studios are nearly all cat households; the small squares and church steps often have a stray curled up in the sun. The local animal welfare group Les Chats de Montmartre has been operating for more than thirty years, providing food and veterinary care to over two hundred stray cats each day. Today, Montmartre is a pilgrimage site for cat lovers from around the world. If you visit the carousel at Place du Tertre, you may well see a calico cat drift past your feet, walking with exactly the same grace as in any Van Gogh.