Impasse Florimont
 The end of Impasse Florimont; on the left, the house where Georges Brassens lived from 1944 to 1966 | |
Interactive map of Impasse Florimont | |
| Length | 47 m (154 ft) |
|---|---|
| Width | 2 m |
| Arrondissement | 14th |
| Quarter | Plaisance |
| Coordinates | 48°49′54″N 2°18′57″E / 48.83169°N 2.31594°E |
| From | 150, Rue d'Alésia |
Impasse Florimont is a cul-de-sac in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, France, in the Plaisance quarter. It is particularly known for having been the home of French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens from 1944 to 1966.[1]
Location and access
Impasse Florimont is a small and narrow street approximately 47 metres long and 2 metres wide. It begins at 150 Rue d'Alésia, behind a petrol station, and is located not far from Plaisance station on the Paris Métro.
The street was designated as a protected site following a modification of Paris's land-use plan in 2000. The designation includes a non aedificandi restriction at the entrance to the cul-de-sac and at number 14.
Origin of the name
The street takes its name from a former owner of the land, a man named Florimont. Although a plaque at the entrance spells the name "Florimond" with a final d, the official spelling of the street is Florimont with a final t.[2]
History
A gallows belonging to the seigneurial jurisdiction of the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève probably stood near the junction of the present-day Impasse Florimont and Rue d'Alésia. The abbey's feudal domain covered a large part of what is now the 14th arrondissement and extended as far as Vanves and Montrouge. Until the abolition of seigneurial jurisdictions in Paris by Louis XIV in 1674, the abbey exercised low, middle and high judicial jurisdiction over its domain.
The gallows, where the bodies of executed people were displayed as a deterrent to criminals, appeared on some 18th-century maps. They survived the abolition of the seigneurial jurisdictions for some time before eventually being dismantled.[3]
Brassens, who later lived in the street, may have been unaware of this history when he wrote the following lines in his 1952 song La Mauvaise Réputation:
S'ils trouvent une corde à leur goût,
Ils me la passeront au cou.
In English: "If they find a rope to their liking, / They'll put it around my neck." The lines refer to hanging and are therefore particularly apt in the context of the gallows that once stood near the present-day Rue d'Alésia.
Buildings and places of remembrance
The street is particularly associated with singer-songwriter Georges Brassens, who lived there from 1944 to 1966. A commemorative plaque installed by the City of Paris at the entrance states that Brassens lived in the street during those years and wrote his first songs there.[1] The house at number 9, where Brassens lived with Marcel and Jeanne Planche, has become a place of remembrance for his admirers.
On September 22, 1994, at the initiative of the association Les Amis de Georges, a bronze bas-relief made by French singer Renaud was installed on the small house at number 9. It commemorates Brassens's residence there from 1944 to 1966 and includes lines from his song Le Moyenâgeux.[4]
On October 1, 2005, three terracotta cats were placed on the house associated with Brassens, recalling the many cats kept by Jeanne Planche. The cats were made by potter Michel Mathieu of Tulette, following an initiative by Claudy Lentz of the Madelonne farm in Gouvy, Belgium. A green wooden trellis is attached to the wall to the left of the door, allowing visitors and admirers to leave flowers and messages in memory of Brassens.
Brassens and Impasse Florimont
During the German occupation of France, Georges Brassens was requisitioned for the Service du travail obligatoire (STO) and sent to the labor camp at Basdorf, Germany. After about a year, he was granted leave in March 1944. He used the opportunity not to return to Germany and, in order to avoid reprisals, was sheltered by Marcel and Jeanne Planche at number 9, Impasse Florimont.[1]
The house was extremely modest, with no gas or electricity and no sewer connection. Brassens lived there for approximately 22 years, continuing to write and compose while living with the Planche family.[1]
After beginning his career as a singer in 1952, Brassens became increasingly successful. In 1955, he purchased the house at number 9 and the adjoining property at number 7, allowing him to enlarge the dwelling and improve its living conditions. The Planche family consequently no longer had to pay rent.
Despite his growing fame, Brassens maintained his attachment to the Planche household. He remained at Impasse Florimont until Jeanne remarried in May 1966, following a year of widowhood. Her new husband was Georges Sanjak, who was 37 years younger than her. Brassens disapproved of the marriage and left the impasse.[5] After Jeanne's death in October 1968, Brassens gave the house to his friend and secretary Pierre Onténiente, whom he had known from the Basdorf labor camp, so that he could live there.
Pierre Nicolas
By coincidence, Pierre Nicolas (1921–1990), who was Brassens's double-bassist for nearly thirty years, was born at Impasse Florimont.[6] Brassens met Nicolas in 1953 at Patachou's cabaret, where Nicolas played in the orchestra accompanying the singer.[7] Brassens and Nicolas reportedly discovered the coincidence only later, during a conversation in which Brassens mentioned that he lived in a "very small cul-de-sac" that Nicolas supposedly did not know. Nicolas then revealed that he had actually been born there.[8] A commemorative plaque also recalls Nicolas's birth in the street.[9]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Une balade sur les pas de Georges Brassens". Paris.fr (in French). Retrieved August 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Nomenclature des voies de Paris". Paris.fr (in French). Retrieved August 15, 2026.
- ↑ Dufresne, Thomas (1998). "Le gibet de la rue d'Alésia". Revue d'histoire du 14e arrondissement de Paris (in French) (42): 118–119. ISSN 0556-7335.
- ↑ Rédaction, La. "Paris : Impasse Florimont, souvenirs de Georges Brassens, mémoire du poète - XIVème - Paris la douce, magazine parisien, culture, sorties, art de vivre". Retrieved August 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Les artistes du Méridien" (PDF). Journal trimestriel de la commission culture du Conseil de quartier Montsouris-Dareau (in French). 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2026.
- ↑ "BRASSENS, Georges (1921–1981)". Le Manuscrit Français (in French). Retrieved August 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Discographie de Georges Brassens". mediatheque.philharmoniedeparis.fr (in French). Retrieved August 15, 2026.
- ↑ Pierre Nicolas (June 15, 2014). PIERRE NICOLAS - Un concours de circonstances (audio). Retrieved August 15, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Lutece, L'Equipe. "Débat-Délibs - Détail du résultat". a06-v7.apps.paris.fr (in French). Retrieved August 15, 2026.