Singing the Praises of Belleville, Edith Piaf’s Paris

Many travelers know Belleville as the Paris neighborhood where they can find Pere Lachaise cemetery. I recall riding the metro out there more than a decade ago, like every other college kid with a Let’s Go, to check out the tombstones of Jim Morrison and Gertrude Stein. But what I didn’t appreciate at the time was that Belleville was also once the home of singer Edith Piaf.

As the AP points out in a fine story, the funky, scruffy neighborhood is dotted with Piaf-related sites, from a museum in her honor and old venues where she sang to an Edith Piaf square, statue and bar.

It sounds like it’s worth a return visit. 

As a culture official said of Piaf’s Belleville: “It’s an area that hasn’t yet been discovered by tourists. At the moment, it’s Parisians who are starting to explore.”

Cue the YouTube:

©2026 World Hum, All Rights Reserved