Paris' Montmartre Recaptures Glory Days

PARIS (TheStreet) -- One of the most fashionable neighborhoods along Paris' Right Bank, Montmartre has long been a bohemian enclave for artists like Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet.

But the area retreated into a Parisian version of Hollywood Boulevard, more famous for its brassy nightclubs and nearby red-light district. But, now, Montmartre is back, with a renewed, stylish spirit revived by a spate of recent movies that have brought investment as well as tourists.

Where to check-in: Along one of those perfect Paris streets where you fight back thoughts of running away from your American life, a secret passageway of overgrown shrubbery conceals a grand three-story Haussmann-style mansion formerly owned by the Hermes family now known as Hotel Particulier. Free of Paris virgins, the lobby maintains the feel of a private home but with in-the-know guests with the hottest restaurants on speed dial who often stay weeks at a time.

The Hotel Particulier was formerly a townhouse owned by the Hermes family.

The oh-la-la lobby dazzles with wide-plank hardwood floors topped with exotic animal skins and pinstriped trim, lending a modern tone along with mid-century furnishings like the Arne Jacobsen egg chair. Suites feature one-of-a-kind wallpaper with period light fixtures, tufted-leather headboards and dramatic bathrooms lined in marble tiles with soaking tubs and glass walls. Hedonists should check into the loft-suite sequestered in the attic with spiral staircase and open-floor architecture accented with freestanding claw-foot tub and gallery-worthy artwork.

Different kind of shopping spree: Along the same fashion pedigree as London's Dover Street Market or Berlin's Departmentstore Quartier 206, Spree is the renegade Paris cousin developed by fashion designer Roberta Oprandi and art director Bruno Hadjadj. Together, the two collaborate on one of the city's top fashion stops, containing a micro-department store of furniture, art gallery and fashion.