Walking Tour in Belleville, Paris| Street Art, Backstreets & Edith Piaf

Walking Tour in Belleville, Paris| Street Art, Backstreets & Edith Piaf

Bonjour and welcome to The Paris Plan. Paris is full of colourful neighbourhoods and they’re best discovered on foot. Today I’m going to take you on one of my favourite walking tours to discover Belleville in the north-east of Paris. We’re going to find beautiful street art, pretty parks, cheap international eateries and cafés, and also the birthplace of the Edith Piaf. Yes! It’s also my hood so consider yourself in good hands. Let’s do it. Belleville was once in the countryside, not annexed to Paris until 1860. It became a working class area and you can see lots of old crime films here too. There were also workshops for cinema equiptment and lots of artist studios. Today it’s getting more hipster in parts, it’s a little seedy in parts, but it hasn’t lost its character. It also has large Chinese, Vietnamese, North African and Sub-Saharan African communities, so there’s lots of yummy international food options. Give yourself a few hours to do the walk. We’ll link the map and a contact in the comments should you want to book a tour with me. Exit Metro Belleville and walk up Rue de Belleville. On the right you’ll find Aux Folies. It’s a great, grungy little local institution and one of my locals. It was once a cinema and café concert venue. Edith Piaf even sang here. It’s the perfect place to stop for a quick refreshment. Say ‘Azul’ to the staff. (That’s hello and Kabyle). Once you’ve had your ‘noisette’ coffee at Folies, turn right down the Denoyer which is one of the most colourful streets in Belleville because it’s covered and constantly re-covered in street art. Wander down and discover hundreds of sprayed pieces, throw-ups, stencils and several cool little cafes and eateries. Sometimes you’ll even see the graffiti artists in action. So there’s a swimming pool and a gym right here. And if you’ve got a hankering for a a burger, a good burger, street cantine is the answer. They are delicious. You can go back up to Rue de Belleville and go uphill, but I like to take back streets. So turn left here onto Rue Ramponeau If you feel like a good paella, Chez Ramona is a good spot to keep in mind. Take a left onto Rue Julien Lacroix. This is Place Fréhel, which was named after the singer Fréhel, who grew up on the streets of Belleville, like Edith Piaf but 24 years earlier. She was born in 1891. Her story is a little tragic with themes of alcoholism. She tried to commit suicide at 19, but she had a successful career. And you can listen to her songs today, including La Java Bleu. Here is Cuture Rapide/ Cabaret Populairer a great little café. We used to do the ParisTap Jam here. And there’s poetry slams, open mics, little concerts. You can obviously enjoy the little square, just having a drink. And there’s wonderful street art by Ben, ‘be careful of words’. There’s a Japanese restaurant here if you’ve got a craving for sushi and a good little Lebanese across the road. Now we’re going to go up to the right to see the apparent birthplace of Edith Piaf. In 1915, Edith Piaf was apparently born right here under a street lantern at 72 rue de Belleville. Come and say bonjour to Edith and sing La Vie en Rose. Then take the first left, downhill onto Rue Piat to the Parc de Belleville. Turn right into the Parc de Belleville and explore the pathways. There’s flowers. There’s places to sit down on the grass. There might even be salsa dancing, depending what day you’re here. Then go up to the top to enjoy this panoramic view over the capital. Here you can see some street art. And my favourite is the work of Seth Globe Painter, Julien Malland. He believes art of the street should help you to question things and not dictate to you. And his playful illustrations of children can be seen all around the world. Before we go on to the next part, which is just down here, you can stop and have a drink at the Wallace Fountains and watch our video also on them on the channel. Then take the passage Piat. You’ll pass local grapevines that remind us of country Paris. Belleville had been annexed in 1860, but before there were farmyards and vineyards. You can read more about the history of Belleville in The Art Lovers Guide to Paris. Now swing left. These little back streets are brimming with cafes, theatres and more street art. This is one of my favourites by Nemo who did pieces for his kids in the 80s and they were so beautiful that he did them all over the area. You’ll also see them in Ménilmontant. Very picture book, inspired by the red balloon. There’s also little black cats, boats… Just delightful. I’m going to go up Rue de Savies which is the old name for Belleville. And there’s lots of lovely colourful spots up here also and it goes into my favourite street in Paris. When you come out at Rue de Ménilmontant you’ll get another impressive view over Paris to your right. Just opposite and downhill is the old Miroiterie. It was super famous for Sunday night jazz jams and now it’s a cool spot for a refreshment. It’s owned by the Bellevilloise, which you’ll find once you go back uphill and turn right onto Rue Boyer. This cool four-storey arts and music complex has now a rooftop bar. The Bellevilloise was founded in 1877 as a co-op with the aim of providing the working class with access to cultural and political education. In 2005, Renauld Barillet, Fabrice Martinez and Philippe Jupin took it on and created a contemporary cultural hub with concerts, festivals, workshops, restaurants, bars… And yes, what a place to finish on the rooftop… So, I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of Belleville with us. Let us know in the comments what other tours you’d like to go on and there’s already some others up on the site, so check them out. Please like, comment, subscribe and share and see you very soon! ask yourself to get a villages and let you know where follow
sleep and get a position left on your journey.

Paris is made up of many colourful neighbourhoods, and they’re best discovered on foot. In this video, Ruby takes you on one of her favourite walking tours through the backstreets of Belleville in the north east of the city. It’s home to great street art, pretty parks, cheap-and-cheerful eateries, and old haunts of Edith Piaf. Welcome to the melting pot!

Belleville was once in the countryside, not annexed to Paris until 1860. It became a working class area and you can also see a lot of old crime films set here. There were also workshops for cinema equipment and lots of artist studios. Today it’s getting more hipster in parts, it’s a little seedy in parts, but hasn’t lost its character. It also has large Chinese, Vietnamese, African and North African communities so there’s lots of yummy international food options also.

Give yourself a few hours to do the walk.

Email us for a copy of the map for free if you want to do the tour yourself or else to book a personal tour with Ruby.
theparislplanfrance@gmail.com
https://topoztours.com.au/paris-self-guided-walking-tour-of-belleville/

#Paris #Belleville #WalkingTour #StreetArt #TravelParis #HiddenParis #EdithPiaf #Europetravel #France #francetravel
00:00 Introduction
00:31 History of Belleville
01:08 Aux Folies
01:31 Street art Rue Denoyer
02:41 Place Fréhel
03:37 Edith Piaf
03:53 Parc de Belleville
04:28 Fontaine Wallace
05:00 Nemo
05:30 Rue de Savies
06:05 Belleviloise
06:37 Paris rooftop bar