The 9th arrondissement: fun, salacious, delicious
For one of the smallest arrondissements in the French capital, the 9th arrondissement packs an impressive punch. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a shopper, art collector, culture vulture, party animal or foodie. But first, a few fun facts about le 9ème:
Basketball, celebs & the OG Paris opera
The home of the Paris opera is officially named the opera arrondissement (although almost no one actually calls it that) – not after the Palais Garnier, but after the much older Opera Le Peletier, which was destroyed by fire in 1873.
The first basketball game in France was played on Rue de Trévise in 1893. Speaking of b-ball, a stone’s throw from Pigalle, tucked away between two buildings on Rue Duperré, is the most colourful court, courtesy of designer Stephane Ashpool, who organises a basketball tournament on the square every summer.
François Truffaut’s film Les Quatre Cents Coups is largely set in the 9th arrondissement, where the director grew up. Singers Francoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday were born here as well.
Consumerism at its best
The district can be divided into several sections: SoPi (short for South of Pigalle), the nightlife and (former) red light district; Saint-Georges, a posh residential area with a large number of theaters; Richelieu-Drouot, home to the auction houses (fun to pop in and watch the bidding madness), and the shopping district around Boulevard Haussmann.
Most tourists are familiar with the area around the famous department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps just behind the Opera Garnier, but to us this is the worst part of the 9th and possibly one of the worst neighbourhoods in all of Paris. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that the Galeries Lafayette flagship store, as pretty as it may be with its Art Nouveau dome, is our personal hell.
It’s always so crowded that it’s hard to get through, even on the streets, especially on weekends and before the holidays. Also, these big department stores all stock the same big brands and feel soulless these days. We prefer to shop in the smaller boutiques and buy independent brands you’ll find further north around SoPi. If you insist on visiting, know that in Paris we say that Galeries Lafayette is for the tourists and Printemps is for the locals.
From business to pleasure
Surprisingly, the 9th is also a business district, with many large companies such as Netflix, Sony, Google and Danone based here. It is also one of the wealthier boroughs. The median household income is twice the national average.
In the 1800s, a different kind of business flourished around Pigalle. Brothels, prostitutes and cabarets sprang up throughout the neighborhood, turning the artsy SoPi (then known as Nouvelle Athènes) into the city’s red-light district. It remained a seedy, crime-ridden area for much of the 20th century.
Today, a few sex shops and specialized bars along the Boulevard de Clichy are all that remain of the arrondissement’s wild past. If you’re interested in architecture and history, visit 9 Rue de Navarin. The building is constructed in the neo-gothic style, something you rarely see in Paris, and used to house a brothel.
SoPi: a foodie & clubber destination
SoPi has since transformed into a bobo neighborhood (see also: Portrait of a bobo), with cute cafes and coffee shops, designer thrift stores, smaller museums and art galleries and a crazy density of excellent restaurants. After dark, the area becomes a popular nightlife destination, clustering various bars and nightclubs within a few blocks.
If you’re wandering around SoPi, don’t miss Rue des Martyrs, a quaint market street that offers everything from greengrocers to bakeries (several of them) to ice cream in crazy flavors to caviar to handmade pasta to wine to greek delis to coffee to airy meringues, with a few funky clothing stores thrown in for good measure.
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