La Bonne Franquette is an emblematic restaurant on the Butte Montmartre. Vincent Van Gogh painted his painting “La Guinguete” there.

A meeting place for artists

A 16th century house in the heart of old Montmartre, La Bonne Franquette brings to life the Montmartre tradition of cheerfulness, conviviality, welcoming artists, winegrowers and lovers of good wine. Perched at the top of the Butte, slightly away from the Place du Tertre, the restaurant disorients tourists and Parisians alike with its typical atmosphere and its village atmosphere specific to old Montmartre.
At the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, La Bonne Franquette was a meeting place for artists : Pissarro, Sisley, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Monet, Zola… he ascent of the Butte… As neighbors were also Suzanne Valadon and Utrillo, installed in 1896 at the corner of rue des Saules and rue Cortot, very close to Aristide Bruant. And the famous merchant of colors for painters, Father Tanguy, walked up there from rue Clauzel to meet the artists.

Van Gogh produced more than 200 works in Montmartre

In the fall of 1886, Van Gogh, who lived with his brother Théo at 54 rue Lepic, discovered the cafe and its garden where his young friend Toulouse-Lautrec invited him to drink absinthe. Vincent, during these two years spent in Montmartre, produced more than 200 works, canvases and drawings on various subjects: landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits. In the garden of the restaurant that has become La Bonne Franquette, he painted his famous canvas of modest dimensions, La Guinguette, now on display at the Musée d’Orsay. This painting belongs to the group of works produced between 1886 and 1887 of the “paintings of Montmartre”, whose pastoral atmosphere he preferred to that of the urban scenes of Paris.

La Bonne Franquette
18 rue Saint Rustique (corner 2 rue des Saules)
75018 Paris 18th


https://www.labonnefranquette.com/