Singing the Praises of Belleville, Edith Piaf’s Paris
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 09.12.08 | 11:20 AM ET
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:
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
Julia 09.12.08 | 3:56 PM ET
J’adore Piaf !
Ben 09.13.08 | 8:29 PM ET
Dear Travel Movie Clubbers: If you can’t make it to Belleville anytime soon, do considering renting “La Vie En Rose,” last year’s excellent biopic about the iconic singer.