Bal Bullier

The Bal Bullier sits at the corner of avenue de l'Observatoire and rue de Michelet, marked by a massive, weathered facade that echoes the grand scale of the nearby Luxembourg Gardens. In the nineteenth century, this was the city’s premier ballroom, where thousands of students and locals crowded in for the nightly can-can. It became famous when the poet Jean Richepin fought a duel here over a dancer, leaving his opponent wounded in the middle of a waltzing crowd.