MONOPOLY

Third and last ROUND of Monopoly Game ...

From rue Lafayette to boulevard de Belleville

I have to cheat a little bit to get the most out of my Monopoly tour. So we are going to visit several places before we reach the Boulevard de Belleville, starting with Place Pigalle, a fifteen minute walk from Rue Lafayette.

As an alternative to walking, you can take bus 40, the nicest bus line in Paris. It will take you through the small and steep streets of Montmartre. You will find the bus on rue Lafayette, opposite rue Le Pelletier. Once on the bus, don't get off at the Mairie du XVIIIème Jules Joffrin, just stay on the bus and wait for it to leave. At the end of a challenging tour for the driver through the tiny streets of Montmartre, get off at Place Pigalle.

For those who have decided to walk:

Turn left into rue Lafitte, which offers a beautiful view of the church of Notre Dame de Lorette and the domes of the Sacré-Coeur.

rue lafitte nodre dame de lorette sacré coeur

Let's walk alongside Notre Dame de Lorette, not only the church of my childhood, but more importantly the church where Monet, Gauguin and Bizet were baptised. I love this church for its beautiful paintings and its coffered ceiling. It has recently been restored after a century of dirt and neglect.

Take rue des Martyrs, the street I used as a child to go to school and then to the lycée. This very lively and colourful street, with the Sacré Coeur in the background, has always been very busy with shops. Gentrification brought changes like new plantations in place of parking spaces, and famous shops in place of the simpler shops of my childhood.

Turn left into rue Victor Massé, then right into rue Frochot. I had long admired the huge stained glass window in the Villa Frochot before I realised that it was inspired by Hokusaï's famous wave.

We now arrive at the renovated Place.

You might wonder why anyone would invest in this hot area. But thanks to the renovation, the area is not as sleasy as it used to be, and the gentrified SoPi (South Pigalle) is quite decent, with many opulent buildings and artists' studios.

Ten years before the creation of Monopoly, Atget photographed the New Monico Club, a place that can be used as an example of how the neighbourhood has changed over the years.

In the 19th century, this café, known as La Nouvelle Athènes, was a meeting place for the Impressionists, writers and prostitutes. Degas used it as the setting for his painting L'Absinthe. The name Nouvelle Athènes referred to the newly created area south of Place Pigalle, home to the artistic and literary intelligentsia of the time.

In the 1950s, the place became a famous strip club, Le Narcisse, whose sign can be seen in many film noir movie, such as Rififi.

Today, the place is an organic food shop.

Place Pigalle
Atget – 1925
(Paul Getty Museum)

As it's only half an hour to the Gare du Nord, this is a great opportunity to get there. As I've never liked the Boulevard de Rochechouart, we'll be taking the more pleasant Avenue Trudaine and Rue de Dunkerque.

From Place Pigalle, turn right onto Boulevard de Clichy. On the right you will see some studios. In 1909, Picasso lived for a while in an artists' collective at 11 Boulevard de Clichy.

Turn right into rue des Martyrs. The colourful street mural evokes the 19th-century circus Médrano, demolished by promoters in the 1970s. I still remember the smell of hay and animals that filled the whole neighbourhood, especially in summer.

Turn left into avenue Trudaine, then rue de Dunkerque, which leads to Gare du Nord.

It took this walk for me to really appreciate the architecture of the Gare façade, which I had never really taken the time to stop and look at. No one is stopping, too busy catching a train or running off to somewhere else. There are so many people here, it's the most important railway station in Europe!

The Baron de Rotschild, then owner of the Compagnie de Chemin de Fer du Nord, decided to call on Hittorff, a highly renowned architect, to build the station. The architect is also known for having built the nearby church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, the Cirque d'Hiver, the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées theatre and re-centred the Place de la Concorde around the obelisk.

The statues of women along the monumental facade symbolise cities. At the top, Paris, then the main European cities such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin and London; below, the French cities of the north, such as Boulogne and Compiègne.

I still keep in mind the boulevard de Belleville; we get there via the rue de Paradis, a quarter of an hour from the Gare du Nord...

This gives two opportunities: to visit the church of Saint-Vincent de Paul, built by the architect of the Gare du Nord. And to take the pedestrian-friendly rue de Belzunce where one can enjoy a stop on the Bistro terrace beneath the ivy-covered wall...

From Place Napoléon-III, take Rue de Compiègne, cross Boulevard de Magenta and take Rue de Belzunce opposite.
Walk past the church, where Philippe Noiret repeats over and over again: "Look, Zazie, it's so beautiful, this Gothic jewel!"

We continue along rue d'Hauteville, once a furrier's street, and turn left into rue du Paradis.

The street was once famous for glass and tableware. Only a handful of old-fashioned shops remain today.

ancien magasin porcelaines rue de Paradis

ancien magasin cristallerie rue de Paradis

At no. 30, the façade is that of the former warehouse of the Cristalleries de Saint-Louis and then Baccarat, now transformed into a housing complex.

Number 18 is a good example of some of the prestigious establishments on this street in the 19th century. The Faïencerie de Choisy le Roi was renowned for the quality of its mosaics. Its reputation was such that it was asked by the Parisian metro to manufacture the famous white tiles. Since 2022, it is home to the Albert School, a business school dedicated to digital technology and data analysis.

18 rue de Paradis faiencerie choisy le roi alberts school

18 rue de Paradis faiencerie choisy le Roi Albert school

After its decline in the tableware business, the street and the district are being reborn with the modern miracle of gentrification. So, to get back to Monopoly, this is definitely a street where you should invest!

Speaking of the game, let's go now to Boulevard de Belleville, 12 squares after Rue Lafayette, and a lot of other streets too...

Head straight for rue de la Fidélité.
Turn right into boulevard Magenta and left into rue des Vinaigriers, which leads to the canal Saint-Martin.

Au Lion d’Or
Rue des Vinaigriers
Atget – 1924
(Musée Carnavalet)

Take the footbridge over the Canal Saint-Martin, a very pleasant place to stroll in fine weather.

We'll come back a little later in the walk, because there's something of an atmosphere here...

Head straight ahead onto rue de la Grange aux Belles, then turn right onto rue Bichat.
Continue alongside the Hôpital Saint-Louis, built under the reign of King Henri IV (1607).

Turn left onto rue du Faubourg du Temple and turn right onto boulevard de Belleville.

Texte / Photos : Martine Combes

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