Girardon Street, Residential street with stairs in Montmartre, Paris
Rue Girardon is a short cobblestoned residential street in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris's 18th arrondissement, running from Rue Lepic to Place Dalida. At its lower end, a staircase leads down toward Place Constantin-Pecqueur, and the street passes near the Moulin de la Galette.
The street appears on Paris maps dating back to at least 1672, first as a simple path called Rue des Brouillards. It received its current name in 1867, around the time Montmartre was formally absorbed into the city of Paris.
Rue Girardon takes its name from François Girardon, a 17th-century sculptor who worked for King Louis XIV. His most famous work, showing Apollo surrounded by nymphs, can still be seen at Versailles today.
Rue Girardon is easy to reach on foot and sits within one of Montmartre's most walked circuits on the hill. The staircase at the lower end can be slippery when wet, so sturdy footwear is a good idea.
The writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline lived at number 4 for several years during World War II, together with his companion and their cat Bébert. In his writings, he described looking out over Montmartre from his window and hearing the distant sound of bombs.
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