Alright, so you’re standing outside Rue Alfred-Roll-one of those Parisian streets that's so tucked away, you almost want to whisper its name so it stays a secret. It barely stretches past 130 meters, which is, as the French say, *not very far at all*. But don’t let its size fool you. This tiny street is a real heavyweight in terms of stories.
Let’s set the scene. We're in the late 1800s. The Plaine-de-Monceaux area was the “in” place for artists and the emerging bourgeoisie-think of it as SoHo before anyone ever thought to sell a twelve-dollar espresso. Back then, some pretty legendary creative types lived, worked, and-honestly-gossiped right here.
The street’s namesake, Alfred Roll, was no starving artist. He was such a big deal painter that he became an official “painter to the Republic.” He actually lived and worked at what is today number 17, right here. Imagine canvas after canvas, brushes bristling, maybe a little creative arguing about the best local wine. By the time Roll passed away in 1919, his home was almost as famous as his work.
But Roll had some stylish neighbors. Number 1 isn’t just any building-it used to house Edmond Rostand, who gave the world Cyrano de Bergerac. Yes, the one with the nose. In 1897, Rostand bought what was then called 29 Rue Alphonse-de-Neuville, now incorporated into Rue Alfred-Roll. By the way, in those days, a modest house in this area cost a few thousand francs-today, you’d need the modern equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars... and a good amount of luck.
Take a look at number 6. That’s a classic late 19th-century mansion-red brick, white stone trim, and a whimsical roofline loaded with “troubadour-style” detail. It looks a bit like a gingerbread house designed by someone with expensive taste. The legendary opera singer Jeanne Hatto lived here. Rumor has it she had a long-running romance with industrialist Louis Renault. Ah... romance, Paris, and the early automobile-what could possibly go wrong?
Number 8? That’s now the Embassy of Togo. At 14, you’ll spot another vintage mansion-once home to playwright Sacha Guitry and actress Yvonne Printemps. Today, it’s the Siegmund Freud University. From drama to drama therapy, you could say.
Let’s not forget the social scene. Famed actress Réjane, so adored she inspired characters in Marcel Proust’s novels, threw parties here that, as the papers said, “revolutionized the neighborhood.” Her invitations even joked about the half-developed state of the area, instructing guests to look for her “cute little house in the wild lands off Avenue de Villiers.”
So, when you walk past these doors, you’re quite literally brushing against history-a history that's less about big headlines and more about lively, slightly scandalous stories played out behind closed doors.
Ready for Rue Eugène-Flachat? Just head southeast for about 2 minutes.
