The Neighborhood
Le Quartier Batignolles
Batignolles, in the 17 Arrondissement, is an oasis of calm in the midst of 11 million Parisians. Originally built with country houses for the bourgeoisie during Napoléon's reign, Batignolles retains its village vibe to this day.
This is a place of simple pleasures. Enjoy a perfect almond croissant and strong coffee before heading off for market shopping at Paris' largest organic food market on Saturday mornings. Watch neighborhood kids riding the antique carousel or feed the swans at one end of the local park while their grand-pères (and a few grand-mères) play spirited games of pétanque at the other. Visit storefronts hosting perfumers, cobblers, florists, violin bow-makers, and luxury bespoke lingerie designers. Take lunch at a neighborhood dive or a Michelin-starred restaurant—here they stand shoulder to shoulder.
Early evenings are special in Batignolles. Parents walk their young children home from school, stopping off at a bakery for a still-warm treat (most often one for the child and a second for the well-behaved parent.) Older kids gather for a scooter frenzy or impromptu soccer in the open square facing the city hall. And young singles start gathering at the wine bars.
Despite its village atmosphere, Batignolles is ideally situated for exploring Paris. Montmartre, with its hidden streets and wedding cake Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, lies just to the east, as does the nocturnal adult playground surrounding the brightly lit spinning windmill atop the Moulin Rouge. Several of Paris' finest small museums such as the Musée Nissim de Camondo are situated to the south and west. Served by three different Métro lines with five nearby stations, including the newest stop of the entirely automated express line #14, Batignolles is an ideal starting point for any Parisian adventure.
To stay in Batignolles is to understand what it's really like to live a Parisian life!
Did You Know
- The neighborhood church, Sainte-Marie, was donated to the village by Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, duchesse d'Angoulême, the only surviving child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
- In the 1870s, the quartier was home to the "Batignolles Group," a group of unknown painters who met regularly at a local café to discuss their alarming ideas about art. Some of them became a little bit famous—Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pisarro, Alfred Sisley, Henri Fantin-Latour, Frédéric Bazille, and Edouard Vuillard.
- Emile Zola penned his first novel a few doors down on our street. Poets Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé toiled away a couple of streets in either direction.
- Twentieth-century chanteurs Jacques Brel and Barbara came home at night to Batignolles.