L'Étoile de Kléber

The building you are approaching at number four Rue Paul-Valéry was once known as L'Étoile de Kléber, a high-end maison close that operated during the middle of the twentieth century. It was founded and managed by a woman named Aline Soccodato, who was better known to the city as Madame Billy. Her establishment became a frequent destination for some of the era's most famous figures, including the singer Maurice Chevalier and King Farouk of Egypt. Even the French singer Edith Piaf famously rented a room on the top floor of the building between nineteen forty-one and nineteen forty-three.