South Pigalle — locals long ago shortened it to SoPi — is the slice of the 9th arrondissement between the grand boulevards and the foot of the Montmartre hill. In the 1820s and 30s this was the Nouvelle Athènes, where Chopin, George Sand, and Delacroix kept houses; a couple of those Romantic-era residences survive as small, atmospheric museums tucked behind quiet courtyards.
Over the past decade the area has reinvented itself as one of the city's most appealing neighbourhoods to eat and drink, shedding the sleazier reputation of Pigalle just to the north. The spine is the Rue des Martyrs, a sloping market street thick with bakeries, cheesemongers, wine shops, and bistros, while the side streets hide specialty coffee, cocktail bars, and boutique hotels.