Following in Frédéric Chopin's footsteps in Paris, from the salons to the Polish library

The composer Frédéric Chopin, who arrived in Paris at the age of 21, found his artistic inspiration here, met his loves and success, but also suffered the melancholy of an exile that never quite left him. From his modest apartments to aristocratic salons, explore the places associated with Frédéric Chopin in Paris.

Chopin's namesake square, salon, library and burial site are still visible today... Memories and traces of Chopin abound in the City of Light. Some of these places can be visited, others are private addresses, but all tell a fragment of Chopin's romantic and refined Paris.

Follow in the footsteps of the Polish composer on a Parisian stroll through memory and music.

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• Who was Frédéric Chopin? 

A Franco-Polish composer and pianist considered one of the world's greatest masters, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was born in Żelazowa Wola, near Warsaw. Arriving in Paris in theautumn of 1831, Frédéric Chopin made the capital the focus of his musical and artistic creativity, and spent the rest of his life there. It was in the French capital that he became a central figure in the artistic and intellectual world of the 19ᵉ century. Welcomed into refined salons and intellectual circles, he forged a deep relationship with George Sand, developed a romantic, intimate style and participated in the refined cultural life of the age. The City of Light became not only the setting, but also the extension of his sensibility, between music and gentle melancholy.

• Chopin's intimate addresses in Paris

27, boulevard Poissonnière (2ᵉ arr.). Frédéric Chopin lives there on the 5ᵉ floor, in a small two-room apartment, from September 1831 to June 1832. Here he admires Paris "from Montmartre to the Pantheon".

4, cité Bergère (9ᵉ arr.). He stayed here in a furnished hotel from late 1832 to June 1833.

Pavillon n°9 du square d'Orléans (9ᵉ arr.). Chopin lived briefly at number 9 of this mythical private estate in Romantic Paris, a former breeding ground for artists.

Literary and aristocratic salons on the Ile Saint-Louis (4ᵉ arr.). As soon as he settled in Paris, Chopin was invited to perform in the salons of aristocratic families, in particular those of Prince and Princess Czartoryski on theÎle Saint-Louis. Here, he met major figures such as the poet Adam Mickiewicz. This sociability reflects a discreet lifestyle, in keeping with his status as a"salon man" rather than a regular on the public stage.

• In the footsteps of Chopin in Paris 

Salle Pleyel (9ᵉ arr.). Inaugurated in 1839 on rue Rochechouart, the (first) Salle Pleyel welcomed Chopin from the start of his career until his last Parisian concert in February 1848. He played exclusively on a Pleyel piano, whose "French" touch he appreciated.

The Polish Library (4ᵉ arr.). The Polish Library is home to the Salon Chopin, a space where letters, busts and intimate mementos of the composer are preserved. A cocoon of memory that lets you feel the intimacy of this exiled composer.

Place Chopin (16ᵉ arr.). A small square named in 1897, in the peaceful Muette district.

Parc Monceau (8ᵉ arr.). Parc Monceau is graced by some fifteen marble statues of writers, artists and musicians, including a sculpture of Chopin by French sculptor Jacques Froment-Meurice.

Père-Lachaise cemetery (20ᵉ arr.). His final resting place at Père-Lachaise is a marble monument sculpted by Auguste Clésinger in 1850, now a listed monument.

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