The Rue Lepic is a street in the former commune of Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, climbing the hill of Montmartre from the Boulevard de Clichy to the Place Jean-Baptiste-Clément. It is an ancient road resulting of the rectification and re-arrangement of several dirt-roads leading to the Blanche barrier (Place Blanche), starting life as the Chemin-neuf (the Chemin-vieux was the Rue de Ravignan). In 1852, it was renamed the Rue de l'Empereur, before it was renamed again in 1864, after General Louis Lepic (1765–1827).

Notable addresses

In history

Painter and engraver Eugène Delâtre lived and worked on the Rue Lepic. He successively occupied addresses no. 92, no. 87, no. 97, and also no. 102. Louis Renault built his first car in 1898, calling his car the Voiturette. On December 24, 1898, he won a bet with his friends that his invention was capable of driving up the slope of the Rue Lepic. As well as winning the bet, Renault received twelve definite orders for the vehicle. On 7 September 1960, Fernand and Jackie Sardou opened their cabaret Chez Fernand Sardou on the road in place of cabaret Belzébuth next to the residence of Utrillo. The cabaret became a preferred meeting place and played to a full house every night. Michel Sardou had his professional début there, firstly as a server. In the Claude Autant-Lara film, La Traversée de Paris (1956), "Martin" (played by André Bourvil) et "Grandgil" (played by Jean Gabin) were pictured in this road during the German occupation of France transporting a jointed pig destined for the black market. Yves Montand dedicated to this road the song "Rue Lepic" in the album Yves Montand (1974).

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