Rue De Lappes, Paris

A cobbled street in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, in the Bastille neighbourhood and best known for its nightlife. In the 20th Century rue de Lappe started picking up a reputation as a centre of Paris nightlife. By the 1930s 17 dance halls were installed in the street one of which the Balajo (9 rue de Lappe, 75011 Paris) still exists. The Balajo played host to many legendary entertainers of the day such as Edith Piaf and Django Reinhardt.

Jan Gabrial visited the street with Julian Trevelyan, Louise Scherpenberg and David Reeves to celbrate finding an apartment for her and Lowry to live in while in Paris; "After dinner we stopped by the Dôme for drinks and wound up on the rue de Lappe: one thing about Apaches - those real or ersatz Parisian gangster-types - who frequent the cafes there, they certainly could dance." (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 39). There is no record that Lowry visited the street though with his love of jazz it is possible that he did visit the clubs there while in Paris in 1934.