Boulevard de Clichy is on the edge of South Pigalle.Marc Bertrand/Paris Tourism Office
The hotbed of cool in Paris these days is South Pigalle. Located in the 9th arrondisment, SoPi, as it is known, is where the Bobos, Fauxhemians and hipsters can poke their heads into ethereal concept stores, browse for guitars or check into any number of boutique hotels that not so long ago rented rooms by the hour. It’s like the French remake of Williamsburg along with a New York-sounding marketing tag and an erotic French twist.
Around the time of the Second World War, Pigalle was part of Paris’s “Nouvelle Athènes,” a louche but inspiring retreat anchored by the Moulin Rouge and a magnet for Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker; before that, it attracted Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Then the area went to seed, an epicentre for the down-and-out trenchcoat set and adult-movie lovers. But the arrival of a splashy hotel in 2004 was like tourist Cialis. The Costes brothers converted a former bordello into Hotel Amour (8 rue Navarin). Since then, other properties have picked up on the theme of hotel as erogenous zone – and the whole area is imbued with a slightly provocative atmosphere.
For example, one can register for a pole dance at the stylish Le Pigalle (9 rue Frochot). SoPi’s first five-star property, Maison Souquet (10 rue de Bruxelles), which opened last year, was named the world’s most romantic hotel in TripAdvisor’s annual Travellers' Choice Awards. This luxurious, beautifully eccentric former house of pleasure named each of its 20 rooms and suites after courtesans. If you’re feeling like you want a little American Beauty setting, Francophile style, it also offers rose-petal baths.
Blanche Metro station in South Pigalle, Paris.Marc Bertrand/Paris Tourism Office
My wife and I stayed in the relatively chaste confines of Laz’ Hôtel Spa Urbain (17 rue de Milan), a four-star property that opened earlier this year. It’s a 10-minute walk from SoPi and around 500 metres from the closest metro stop. While the distance from SoPi might postpone its pleasures, it was also considerably less pricey. We stayed in a “cosy double twin” room, a quiet loft-concept space with 12-metre-long balcony. The Laz' also features a lap pool, a spa run by Codage and, bonus, a hammam, but its signature statement is the bar and lobby, a cozy setting of brick, Scandanavian-style teak furniture and greenery. Perhaps the greatest frisson was the free umbrella on the way out!
On our first night, my wife and I visited Dirty Dick (10 rue Frochot), the legendary tiki-themed bar – one part flaming-cocktail Tahitian kitsch, one part Scooby-Doo – and found ourselves grappling with SoPi’s charms. Is this place just one extended sex joke? (Let’s just say the in-chair massage service pushed the argument a little far.) Sitting at a common table, a couple was explaining to us the mechanics of their long-distance relationship between London and Dubai, saying they liked to meet halfway in Paris, SoPi in particular. To them, it was a more compact version of Shoreditch, the funky sprawl in London’s East End. Albeit one with an exhibit devoted to romantic rebel George Sand (Musée de la vie romantique, 16 Rue Chaptal).
Inside Musée de la vie romantique.Amélie Dupont/Paris Tourist Offi/Paris Tourism Office
Not everything is outwardly prurient. A wide array of other bars will appeal to many moods, from the boisterous Pigalle Country Club (59 rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle) – a wink to Brooklyn’s iconic drinkerie Bushwick Country Club – to Le Glass (7 rue Frochot), an elegant wine bar that also offers craft beers and bourbon.
Indeed, beyond the cool bars and pillow talk, it is SoPi’s intimacy that gives it its true sex appeal. If you are a frequent visitor to Paris and have already seen most of the sights – or you’re just a lazy tourist – you really don’t need to go anywhere else. SoPi’s steep high street, rue des Martyrs, is its own town square where, in true French spirit, several killer bakeries are within a stone’s throw of each other. KB Cafeshop arguably boasts the area’s best coffee (53 Avenue Trudaine); Sébastien Gaudard-Pâtisserie des Martyrs (22 Rue des Martyrs) will satisfy cravings of the sugary variety, and at No. 39 is renowned masters of loaf Maison Arnaud Delmontel and their succulent ryes.
For the more peckish, the tasty and popular Pantruche bistro (3 rue Victor-Massé) takes its name from the old-school slang for Paris and is widely regarded as SoPi’s best restaurant. The interior has a decidedly oak-panelled, 1930s glam factor. You can also try its more seafaring sibling brasserie, Caillebotte (8 rue Hippolyte-Lebas) The appetizers alone there will make you glow.
For us, though, the sleeper spot was Ito Izakaya (4 Rue Pierre Fontaine), a small but mighty Japanese tapas bar – just for the roasted eggplant and risotto alone. More whimsical Asian-food lovers can check out Peco Peco (47 Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle) for either lunch or dinner for one of their signature rice bowls or fried-meat skewers served vertically.
When it comes to shopping, SoPi is equally inexhaustible. While my wife spent some quality time amid the minimalist beauty of the boutique Spree (16 Rue la Vieuville) and flagged some stunning items at the jewelry shop Myrtille Beck (20 Rue Henry Monnier), I scooted around the corner and hit the guitar-store scene on Rue de Douai.
What’s sex and drugs without a little rock ’n’ roll?
The writer was a guest of Laz’ Hôtel Spa Urbain. It did not review or approve the article.