Passage Geffroy-Didelot, Passageway in Batignolles, Paris, France

Passage Geffroy-Didelot is a narrow open-air walkway in the Batignolles neighborhood, linking the boulevard des Batignolles to the rue des Dames. It runs about 107 meters long and four meters wide, with stone paving and close-set building fronts that make the space feel tight and protected.

The passage was opened in 1843, when Batignolles was still a separate commune before Paris absorbed it in the mid-1800s. Its name comes from a former landowner, Mr. Geffroy-Didelot, who held the property where the walkway was created.

The passage takes its name from Mr. Geffroy-Didelot, on whose land it was laid out. The photograph shows the painted shopfronts along the narrow cobbled way: a strong blue facade on the right with pale lettering reading "ATELIER DU PASSAGE", a deep pink facade with tall doors further on, then orange and pale grey walls. Wooden planters holding thin bamboo-like stalks stand at the base of the blue wall.

Enter from either the boulevard des Batignolles or the rue des Dames, and allow a few minutes for a slow walk through the whole length. The ground is flat and even, so it is easy for most visitors, but the narrow width means you may need to step aside for others.

On October 11, 1914, a bomb fell at the corner of the passage and the boulevard during a German aircraft raid, leaving a mark on the area's memory of the First World War. Few walkers today notice the small corner where that wartime explosion once shook the neighborhood.