Where Hugo Lived
For the Paris visitor with a keen Hugo interest, there are lots of places to discover besides the obvious listed in this section's index page. In spite of Hausmann, revolutions and invading armies, some memorable places have survived. Among them are of course the remaining buildings of some of Victor Hugo's residences. Some have plaques posted on them in memory of the great writer, others are more anonymous.
Fortunately, they are not scattered all around Paris. Nearly half of them are concentrated to an area from Rue Bonaparte to the west side of the Luxembourg Garden. If you take the Metro to the Notre-Dame-des-Champs, you could have a very nice afternoon walk to the Seine and practically cover all places from 1813 to 1830. Begin with a detour to Rue des Feuillantines and you have covered everything from 1809. And you will still have time to make a stop in the Luxembourg Garden.
If you take the Metro to the Pigalle station, you will have at least seven more stops within comfortable walking distance if you trot towards Sainte Trinité. You could even start at the Anvers Metro station and walk up to Sacré Cour for a couple of hours and still have a great Hugo day at a convenient pace.
In 19th century Paris, your social status was judged by what floor you lived on. First floors were superior, the top floor was cheap - in every sense. Some arrondissements were more fashionable than others, as is the case today. Although Hugo in time became a very wealthy man, he did not show off his fortunes by keeping a palace or renting apartments in the districts of la créme de la société. Some claim that he was too parsimonious, but it's more likely that he just didn't have those preferences.
The lack of information regarding decoration and furnishing in this summary is intentional. Hugo had a passion for interior that is accounted for in the Miscellaneous Hugo section.
Here is a chronological summary of Hugo's Paris residences, with maps and in some cases images or drawings.
(Revised 17th May, 2005; images of present day addresses added to 12 Impasse des Feuillantines, 44 Rue des Cherche-Midi, 18 Rue des Petits-Augustins, 10 Rue Méziéres, 30 Rue du Dragon, 39 Rue des Cherche-Midi, 90 Rue de Vaugirard, 9 Rue Jean-Goujon, 6 Place Royal, 37 Rue de la Tour-d'Auvergne, 2 Rue de Navarin, 5 Avenue Frochot, 66 Rue la Rochefoucauld, 55 Rue Pigalle, 21 Rue de Clichy and 130 Avenue d'Eylau.)
1804 - December 1807
24 RUE DE CLICHY
Victor Hugo's earliest memories was of the home at Rue de Clichy where he lived with his mother and brothers. He later recalled the garden with the willow, stretching its branches down in the trough beside the well. Occasionally, the home had an additional inhabitant; Madame Hugo's lover, Lahoire, combined the pleasure of her company with refuge from the police. The boys knew him as 'M. de Courlandais'.
If you click the map, you will find the present location of 24 Rue de Clichy. Some biographers say the Hugo home was located "across the road" from the Tivoli Gardens, some say it was "close" to them. The Tivoli Gardens used to be in the south-east corner of the present Place de Clichy. It is likely that the house was situated at the 'H' on the map or somewhere along the street in the north-north-west direction, leading to Place de Clichy. A more exact location is to be advised.
(1807 - 1809, ITALY)
June 1809 - 1811
12, IMPASSE DES FEUILLANTINES
(Now 8 Rue des Feuillantines)
Having returned from Italy, Mme Hugo and the boys settled in a first floor apartment of a house that once had been part of an old convent founded by Anna of Austria. Being granted financial support by her husband, she were now able to live a bit more fashionable. The vast garden was enclosed by high walls and had chestnuts, flowers and even an old chapel ruin where Mme Hugo could keep Lahoire away from the police. At first, the children were forbidden to go near the ruin when Lahoire was staying there but from the day they discovered him, he had his meals with the family. Lahoire stayed in Les Feuillantines for 18 months. He was fetched by the police 30th December 1810.
In 1809, the Impasse des Feuillantines was a quiet blind alley, ending in the iron gate of the Hugo home. As you can see on the map, it is now a passage to Rue Claude Bernard. The marked location should be reasonably correct.
(1811 - 1812, SPAIN)
April 1812 - December 1813
12, IMPASSE DES FEUILLANTINES
(Now 8 Rue des Feuillantines)
After the journey to Spain, the city of Paris expropriated the Feuillantines garden due to a planned prolonging of the Rue d'Ulm. Sophie Hugo had not received any of the allowance granted her by General Hugo and Lahoire was no longer around to contribute. They had to leave the house they had come to love so much.
December 1813 - June 1814
2 RUE DES VIEILLES-TUILERIES
(Now 44 Rue des Cherche-Midi)
The home at the first floor of 2 Rue des Vieilles-Tuileries was modest but next door to Sophie's close friends, the Fouchers. The Hugos had full access to the Foucher garden. In April of 1814, some of the invading Cossacks was billeted in the Hugos' house.
The location mark on the map should be fairly exact.
February 1815 - August 1818
PENSION CORDIER
41 RUE SAINTE-MARGUERITE
Executing his fatherly rights, General Hugo followed up on his divorce application by claming custody of the boys and placed them in the Pension Cordier boarding school on Rue Sainte-Marguerite. A dark, narrow alley between the Abbaye prison and the Passage du Dragon, as Victor Hugo later recalled. Apart from the pupils, the only thing growing on the school-yard was an old walnut tree. The father had requested for the boys to have a room of their own, rendering them some esteem from the other boys at the school. Nevertheless, Hugo regarded it as more of a prison than a school. It was in these settings that Hugo wrote his first poems and the first draft for Bug Jargal.
The Rue Sainte-Marguerite no longer exists. The 'H' on the map marks where it would have been today.
August 1818 - January 1821
18 RUE DES PETITS-AUGUSTINS
(Now Rue Bonaparte)
After three years at the Pension Cordier, the boys moved back with their mother. She rented a third-floor apartment close to the boarding school, at 18 Rue des Petits-Augustins. Victor and Eugène slept in a corner of the dining-room. The alimony from General Hugo wasn't enough for an apartment with a garden but almost every evening they visited the Fouchers at Rue du Cherche-Midi. The visits ended when Victor declared his interest in Foucher's daughter Adèle - Sophie did everything to keep her son away from her.
The frame on the map marks the Rue des Petits-Augustins, now the upper part of Rue Bonaparte. The building Hugo lived in now houses the Paris Czech Centre.
January 1821 - March 1822
10 RUE MÉZIÈRES
Sophie fell ill in January 1821 and she could no longer live on the third floor and without a garden. She and the two youngest boys moved to a ground-floor apartment on Rue Mézières rented by Abel. 21 June 1821, Sophie died.
The image shows the building standing at the site of the original house. The location mark on the map is fairly exact.
March 1822 - October 1822
30 RUE DU DRAGON
Victor moved to a garret at Rue Dragon. He shared the small apartment with his cousin from Nantes, Adolphe Trébuchet, who had come to Paris to study law. They had divided it into two sections; one half was the living-room and in the other half, a dark passage, they had placed their beds. The two cousins shared a wardrobe. A marble fire-place was the only thing resembling luxury. An old friend of Victor's from the Feuillantines joined them, as Victor granted him refuge from the police. Hugo only lived here for six months; on 12 October he married Adèle and the young couple moved to Rue du Cherche-Midi.
30 Rue du Dragon is still in the same place it was in 1822. The house has a plaque in memory of its famous inhabitant - although the year on it is not correct, and his windows can be seen from the street. The location mark on the map is correct.
October 1822 - March 1824
HÔTEL DES CONSEILS DE GUERRE
(39 RUE DU CHERCHE-MIDI)
After the wedding, the young couple moved in with Adèle's parents, where they could stay until they were able to afford a place of their own. The image shows the house built on the site of the old building.
The location mark on the map is fairly correct.
March 1824 - April 1827
90 RUE DE VAUGIRARD
(Now 88 Rue de Vaugirard)
In 1824, Victor and Adèle were able to move to an apartment of their own at 90 Rue de Vaugirard, on the second floor above a workshop. The apartment had six small rooms, a maid's room, a cellar and a wood-shed. Soon, their home became a meeting-place for young writers and artists. This is also where their first daughter, Léopoldine, was born 28 August 1824. When Charles was born in 3 November 1826, the apartment became too small - they moved to Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs in 1827.
The house still exists today. The location mark on the map is fairly correct.
April 1827 - May 1830
11 RUE NOTRE-DAME-DES-CHAMPS
(Now between 23 and 35 Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs)
With a growing family, the need for space was evident and in the spring of 1827, Hugo rented a house at Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. In those days, this was an almost idyllic open-country area. The house had a lovely garden with a pond and bridge. At the far end of the garden was an exit leading to the Luxemburg Gardens. On 21 October 1828, François-Victor was born. As the apartment at Rue de Vaugirard, their new home was the meeting-place of an increasing number of friends and admirers. During the preparations for Hernani, it became almost a war camp for the new Romantic generation. Eventually, the campaign and its advocates scared the landlady and after the premier of the play, she asked the Hugos to find another place to live.
The old number 11 would have been located between present numbers 23 and 35, thus where the Boulevard Raspail now crosses the Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. The location mark on the map is fairly correct.
May 1830 - October 1832
9 RUE JEAN-GOUJON
When thrown out of the house at Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Count de Mortemart offered them to rent the upper floor of his new-built house on Rue Jean-Goujon. It was the only house on the street and close to the Champs-Elysées. Adèle was expecting again; little Adèle was born 24 August 1830.
Hugo's study had five red leather chairs, two couches, several tables with piles of books, various odd things he had collected and drawings and artwork by his friends. It was in this study he imprisoned himself to write The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. After its publication, Hugo was the most famous living author in the world and in 1832, the family moved to the prestigeous Place Royal.
There is nothing left of the house on Rue Jean-Goujon. In its place stands a modern complex. The location mark on the map is correct.
October 1832 - June 1848
6 PLACE ROYAL
(Now 6 Place des Vosges)
In October 1832, the family moved to the second floor apartment of the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée at 6 Place Royal. It was said that the famous courtesan Marion de Lorme once lived in the building. In addition to the the big apartment, Hugo also rented a smaller one for Aunt Martine. During the revolution of 1848, the family felt it too unsafe to stay and decided to move.
Place des Vosges still exists today and is one of the most beautiful places in Paris. The Hugo house is now Maison Victor Hugo, a museum exhibiting the Victor Hugo collections. The location mark on the map is correct.
June 1848 - October 1848
5 RUE D'ISLY
A temporary apartment rented in haste. Adèle complained about the noice and the smoke and the family soon moved on to Rue de la Tour-d'Auvergne.The house where the Hugos lived still exists. The location mark on the map is correct.
October 1848 - December 1851
37 RUE DE LA TOUR-D'AUVERGNE
(Now 39 Rue de la Tour-d'Auvergne)
Fortunée Hamelin and Léonie d'Aunet both lived on the sunny slopes of Montmartre and managed to find the Hugos a house on Rue de la Tour-d'Auvergne. It was a quiet area and fitted the family perfectly after the turmoil at Place des Vosges and the alarming noice at Rue d'Isly. It was in this home that Hugo began to experiment with various psychic phenomena, inviting many more or less mad advocates of the paranormal. He also began socializing with socialists, some of whom were difficult to separate from the psychics.
Louis-Napoléon is said to have visited the Hugos, trying to convince the writer of his good intentions. But in the aftermath of Louis-Napoléon's coup d'état, Hugo was forced to go underground. On 3 December 1851 he began his refuge, hiding first at Rue Caumartin, then at Rue Richelieu. On 7 December he was lodged by the Montferriers on Rue de Navarin.
The house where the Hugos lived still exists and a plaquette in memory of Hugo can be found on the front of the building. The location mark on the map is correct.
7 December 1851 - 11 December 1851
2 RUE DE NAVARIN
Juliette brought Victor to a friend, Sarrazin de Montferrier, who agreed to keep the writer in his home at Rue de Navarin - Téophile Gautier had lived in the same house for a short period in 1836. But after a couple of days they heard of a rumour that Hugo was hiding at Montferriers and on the night of 11 December, Victor Hugo and Montferrier walked to the Gare du Nord where Hugo boarded a train for Brussels. He was carrying a passport with the name 'Jacques Lanvin' and very early the next morning, he was an exile.
The location mark on the map is correct.
(1851 - 1870, EXILE)
September 1870 - February 1871
5 AVENUE FROCHOT
On 5 September 1870, when Hugo arrived in Paris after his exile, he lived in Paul Meurice's house on Avenue Frochot. The third republic had been proclaimed and in October, Paris was under siege by the Prussian army. The Meurice house was crowded with visitors who wanted to greet the returned writer. Several theatres were performing pieces from Punishments and the actors came to the house for rehearsals. Hugo left Paris on 13 February 1871, to attend the National Assembly in Bordeaux.
The house still exists today and the location mark on the map is correct. The image is of the gate to the Avenue Frochot, which is a private and secluded street.
October 1871 - August 1872
66 RUE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Hugo returned to Paris on 1 October 1871. Paul Meurice had rented an apartment on Rue la Rochefoucauld and while that was being prepared, he lived at Hôtel Byron. After Hausmann, the Prussians and the Paris Communards, Hugo sadly found that much of the Paris he knew had been razed to the ground or was in ruins. In August 1872, he returned to Guernsey with Juliette.
The house still exists today and the location mark on the map is correct.
August 1873 - October 1873
5 AVENUE DES SYCOMORES
On his return to France 31 July 1873, Hugo took rooms in Villa Montmorency, where Rousseau once had lived, by Avenue des Sycomores. His son François-Victor already lived there, languishing from disease. In October, Hugo moved in with Juliette on Rue Pigalle. François-Victor died 26 December.
Villa Montmorency still exists, as far as I know. Correct information about this and the location mark is to be advised.
October 1873 - April 1874
55 RUE PIGALLE
The reason for Hugo to leave Villa Montmorency was probably that Juliette had ran away to Brussels due to his liaison with Blanche Lanvin and others. Juliette came back and Hugo lived with her until they moved to Rue de Clichy.
The house still exists today, housing a hotel, and the location mark on the map is correct.
April 1874 - July 1878
21 RUE DE CLICHY
On 29 April 1874, what was left of the Hugo family moved to Rue de Clichy. He had rented one apartment for himself, Alice and the grandchildren, and one for receptions and Juliette. The apartments were on the third and fourth floor. He was now able to entertain guests as usual and almost every night he had 12 or 14 dinner guests - intellectuals, politicians and others. Newspapers all over the world reported on what went on in the Hugo apartment. Well over 100 people visited the Hugo salon on a regular basis. In September 1877, the Emperor of Brazil, dom Pedro, paid him a visit. Hugo recieved his guests sitting on a small green sofa, Juliette were trusted the roll of hostess.
On 27 June 1878, Hugo suffered a stroke and on 5 July, he was back at Hauteville House on Guernsey.
The house still exists today and the location mark on the map is correct.
November 1878 - May 1885
130 AVENUE D'EYLAU
(Now 120 Avenue Victor-Hugo)
When Hugo and Juliette returned to Paris, Meurice had rented the private house of Princess de Lusignan on Avenue d'Eylau for them. It was a modest but comfortable two-storey house and Alice and her new husband moved in next door with the grandchildren. Victor disposed of the upper floor and Juliette the lower - her attempt to move up to Victor was frustrated by Alice. Gavroche, Hugo's cat, could easily access the branches of the garden trees from the first floor window.
It was in front of this house that Hugo rendered the most magnificent tribute ever paid a living writer. On 26 February 1881, on his 79th birthday, a triumphal arch had been erected on the avenue and during the day, 600,000 passed under Hugo's window, greeting and honouring the greatest author on earth. In July, the Avenue d'Eylau was renamed Avenue Victor Hugo. His friends were now able to send letters to Victor Hugo at the street bearing his name.
On 18 May 1885, Hugo suffered a congestion in one lung. Four days later, he passed away in his bedroom at Avenue Victor Hugo.
The house was opened to the public on 12 May 1889. Several rooms had been recreated as they were when Hugo lived there. Various personal objects were put on display - some of them later found their way to the Maison Victor Hugo. The house remained open for a year.
In 1907, it was demolished to make place for a Hausmann-style building. The new building have a bust of the writer sticking out from its entrance top. The location mark on the map is correct.