A Walk South of Pigalle, Paris, France

After a day with lots of rain in Paris, followed by one with none at all, today’s forecast was for sunshine and showers. We decided on another walk, with the possibility of a couple of small museums for shelter if the rain became too much.

So we headed to Pigalle to follow a route recommended on the official tourist website, Paris Je T’Aime, in the district known as Nouvelle Athenes or SoPi (‘South of Pigalle’) Unlike yesterday’s walk, this was a new area for both of us. It has lots of elegant 19th architecture and was home in the past to many of the city’s most famous creatives including Victor Hugo, George Sand, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Edgar Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and many more.

I’ll describe the walk from our perspective, sharing it with Jo’s Monday Walks. But if you want to have a look at the version on the website it’s here: https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/a-walk-in-the-nouvelle-athenes-a1094. We did however find the map there inaccurate, so if you fancy following this walk I recommend you use Google maps to navigate. And they also muddle the house numbers for the two images of Heloise and Abelard on the Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette.

Starting in the Place Pigalle with its lovely Art Deco Metro sign we followed Rue Victor Massé which has some beautiful neo-Renaissance style buildings. I was struck by one building in particular (number 27). We also peered, but couldn’t walk, down the gated Avenue Frochot. The website told us that Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinardt and film director Jean Renoir, son of painter Auguste Renoir, had all lived in this elegant street. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).