A walk south of Pigalle

A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty and in the point of life

Thomas Jefferson

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.

In the Place Jean-Baptiste Pigalle

Our walk

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.

Rue Victor Massé and Avenue Frochot

In the Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle we found more lovely architecture, a view of the Sacré Coeur, and the nightclub Chez Moune. The sign, Cabaret Féminin, dates from when this was the site of Paris’s most famous lesbian club, run by an unusual character, Monique Carton, who called herself Moune.

On the Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle

The Musée de la Vie Romantique

Although the weather was quite bright when we arrived at the Musée de la Vie Romantique, part way along the Rue Chaptal, we decided to go inside, attracted by the pretty building. Entry was free, but not knowing anything much about the work of George Sand, who is featured on the ground floor, or Ary Sheffer, who once lived there and whose work is on display upstairs, we didn’t linger long.

The Musée de la Vie Romantique

Coffee time

The Rue Chaptal was one of my favourite roads on our walk. It was closed to motor traffic (perhaps because it was a Saturday?) and busy with local families taking a stroll. Opposite the museum we found a friendly little coffee shop (top left below) so sat outside for a while enjoying macchiatos and watching the activity.

On the Rue Chaptal

The walk’s itinerary guided us to Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette to ‘admire the façade of number 49 and its front door adorned with the faces of Héloïse and Abelard. The same faces are to be found on the gates of the building at number 54’. We struggled to find them at first but that was perhaps because they are on the gates of number 49 and the façade of number 54!

Héloïse and Abelard on the Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette (#54 on the left, #49 on the right)

We zigzagged our way along several other streets, following the route recommended, and taking plenty of photos as we went. The Rue Catherine de la Rochefoucauld was another favourite, with lots of photo opportunities. I was less taken however with the purses made from real frogs displayed in one shop window, even if, as the sign said, they are an invasive species in Australia being culled by ecologists.

On the Rue Catherine de la Rochefoucauld

The Musée Gustave Moreau

Part way down this road we came to the Musée Gustave Moreau which we found much more interesting than the Musée de la Vie Romantique . The house was lovely, especially the spiral staircase between the upper floors. And although neither of us knew much about this artist, we both found the works on display interesting.

In the Musée Gustave Moreau

When we came out it was to discover that the promised rain had started so we deviated from the recommended route to find an early lunch in the hope it would stop while we ate. It didn’t, but it was only fine so after our light meal in a modern café we continued our walk.

Despite the challenge of handling umbrella as well as camera I managed to take some photos in the elegant Place Saint-Georges, with its statue of the caricaturist Paul Gavarni (no, I hadn’t heard of him either!)

The Place Saint-Georges

According to the walk’s website, number 28 here (on the right and centre above) is the:

ancient hôtel particulier occupied for just one year by the socialite and courtesan Esther Lachman, known as the Marquise de Païva. In 1851, she married the Portuguese marquis Araujo Y Paiva, who gave her this residence built in 1840 by Edouard Renaud. The building’s neo-Renaissance facade, criticised in its day for its abundance, is nonetheless entirely characteristic of the style prevalent in New Athens.

But it was harder to take photos with umbrellas up, so we were glad when the shower didn’t last too much longer. I found some wonderfully intricate doors to photograph back in the Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette.

Doors in the Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette

The church of Notre Dame de Lorette was under restoration, so the outside was covered in hoardings, but we found a side door open and popped in to discover some rather striking wall paintings.

In the Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette

Rue des Martyrs

We then walked the length of the rather wonderful Rue des Martyrs, full of appealing food shops, restaurants and more. We sat outside one bar with a beer for quite some time, as there was so much to watch on the street, including a very friendly passing dog and a beautiful cat looking down from a window opposite.

In the Rue des Martyrs

Flea market

Almost at the top of the road we detoured on to Avenue Trudain, attracted by a line of flea market stalls. We didn’t walk the full length but even so saw plenty of varied and interesting stalls selling everything from stylish mid-20th century furniture through vintage clothing to old toys and bric-a-brac.

Flea market sellers and goods

We then continue to the top of Rue des Martyrs and back to Pigalle Metro station, finishing our walk where we had started.

Mural near the top of the Rue des Martyrs

I last visited Paris in September 2024, when we did this walk, and when all these photos were taken