Follow the Footsteps of Édith Piaf in Paris

FRENCH SINGER ÉDITH PIAF HAS LEFT HER MARK ALL OVER PARIS, AND NOW YOU CAN VISIT ALL HER FAVORITE OLD HAUNTS TO EXPLORE THE CITY OF LIGHTS AS PIAF ONCE KNEW IT!

Known as La Môme Piaf, or The Little Sparrow, Édith Piaf began performing in the tough neighborhood streets of Paris as a young girl with her musician father. The daughter of a busker and a cafe singer, her distinctive, rich voice would be heard around the world, leaving a legacy pinned to Paris. Most known for her songs, La Vie en Rose and the defiant Non, je ne regrette rien, her heartfelt, and often autobiographical tunes are filled with words of love, loss and sorrow. They still bring back very real memories of old Paris, filled with the desperate thieves, ruthless tramps and scandalous lovers in the working-class, cultural mixing pot of the 20th arrondissement.

Over her short lifetime, Édith Piaf floated around Paris performing in numerous venues, many of which have long since vanished, while living in a number of tiny apartments across the city. Remembering the figure who captured in her own lyrics the true essence of Paris during the 20th century, spend your day in Paris tracing the vestiges of her life, down cobbled streets, to lost places and to the gilded quarters of Paris.

72 RUE DE BELLEVILLE 75020, PARIS

The story that has been passed down through generations, stemming from Piaf’s own 1958 autobiography, tells of France’s greatest international star having been born in the doorway of 72 rue de Belleville in Paris on the 19th of December in 1915. A plaque above the cracked marble doorstep recognizes her voice going on to touch the world. In Square Edouard-Vaillant is Tenon Hospital, the real birthplace of the famed singer. Well, at least that’s according to her birth certificate.

AU LAPIN AGILE -22 RUE DES SAULES 75018, PARIS

Located on a little cobbled lane in Montmartre is the dimly-lit bar-cabaret, Au Lapin Agile. With decor and a coziness coming straight from a bohemian lifestyle, Piaf was a regular performer here during her 20’s, performing ballads of hope and love. The roughness of the area threatened to close the bar for good, as Édith Piaf, for some time, lived across the street with a pimp who later tried to shoot her.

LA COUPOLE -102 BOULEVARD MONTPARNASSE 75014, PARIS

A still-standing, classic brasserie located in the eclectic Montparnasse neighborhood, La Coupole frequently welcomed the brightest stars in the worlds of art, literature and nightlife during Piaf’s time. A temple of Art Deco design in Paris that has been well preserved over the years, the ballroom in the basement of this restaurant is where Édith Piaf once sang her heart out and filled the air with her melodies.

LE GERNY'S- 54 RUE PIERRE-CHARRON 75008, PARIS

In the basement of this Parisian hotel was the elegant cabaret, Le Gerny’s. One of the many places she could often be heard singing, it holds a special place in her life’s story as the director of the cabaret, Louis Leplee, was the wordsmith behind Édith’s nickname, La Môme Piaf, or The Kid Piaf.

L’OLYMPIA-28 BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES 75009, PARIS

The legendary concert hall built in 1893 was frequently filled with Piaf’s distinctive sound between 1955 and 1962. Some of her finest performances took place in this concert hall and were often recorded to vinyl, preserving her legacy for years to come.

67 BOULEVARD LANNES 75016, PARIS

The last place Édith lived before her death was in the ground-floor apartment of number 67. This apartment saw her at her best and worst times, and it’s here where she wrote her unforgettable song, Non, je ne regrette rien. Next to the building entrance is a small garden containing a hidden door Édith often used to sneak in and out of her apartment.

CIMETIÈRE PÈRE LACHAISE -16 RUE DU REPOS 75020, PARIS

Upon the hill of the celebrity-filled Pere Lachaise cemetery in the 20th arrondissement of Paris is the final resting place of the singer who was often called “the soul of Paris”. A simple black piece of marble that marks the Piaf family plot and is often covered with fresh flowers as fans still gather to pay their respects to Édith, her infant daughter, father and second husband.

PLACE ÉDITH PIAF

Dedicated to the singer 15 years after her death, this square in the 20th arrondissement is the home of Édith Piaf’s statue, depicting her mid-song with her arms stretched above her head. Bar de la Place Édith Piaf is located along the square and is a tribute to the diva herself, decorated with black and white photographs of her best moments.

ÉDITH PIAF MUSEUM -5 RUE CRESPIN DU GAST 75011, PARIS

Run by a devoted fan who met her in 1958, Édith Piaf’s tiny Parisian flat where she once lived in 1933 is now a museum devoted to her life. Within the preserved two room flat is a display of her famed little black dress and the boxing gloves of the prize-fighter and her love, Marcel Cerdan, whose tragic death in a plane crash led her into a dark decade of drinking and drugs.

Care to learn more about the extraordinary Édith Piaf? Read about the life of the French songstress here.

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