Nina Simone in concert at Morlaix (Bretagne), France
1982 Roland Godefroy
CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed

A little over six years ago, Wells International Foundation Intern Hanna Gressler wrote an article called "Nina Simone's Paris" that presented the scant information she was able to find about Simone's life when she lived in Paris in the early 1980s.

Gressler was not able to determine the exact address where Simone lived.  She thought that the Villa Montsouris, which was named in the Simone biography entitled Nina Simone, une vie, was a building, and she indicated that it might no longer exist.

I happened to visit Parc Montsouris and surrounding area last week and came across two places that I thought might be where Simone lived.

The first location is on the corner of rue Paul Fort and rue de la Tombe Issoire. 

Villa Royale Montsouris
© Entrée to Black Paris

I said to myself, "Here's a building called Villa Royale Montsouris, only a block away from Parc Montsouris.  Maybe the author of the Simone biography was not aware of the word "Royale" being part of the name."

So I went over to the building and looked inside.

I discovered that Villa Royale Montsouris is a boutique hotel owned by the Machefert Group.  When I Googled the hotel, I learned that it has been operating at this address since since 2017. 

Because the Machefert Group has several hotels whose names begin with "Villa," I became less hopeful that it had adopted the name from the previous owner of the building.

To date, I have not been able to find out who the previous owner was.

The second location is more likely to be the place where Simone lived.  It is not a building, but rather, a dead-end street called Villa du Parc de Montsouris. It is directly across the street from the park.

The entrance to the villa is closed off by a gate.

Unable to access the street, I took photos from the sidewalk.

Villa du Parc de Montsouris - gate
© Entrée to Black Paris

Villa du Parc de Montsouris - signage
© Entrée to Black Paris

Villa du Parc de Montsouris - right side
© Entrée to Black Paris

Villa du Parc de Montsouris - left side
© Entrée to Black Paris

The Web pages at the following links present images of the impasse that were taken several years ago:

Paris Bise Art

Art and Glam

Of course, Parc Montsouris is the big attraction of the neighborhood.

Parc Montsouris - view from avenue René-Coty entrance
© Entrée to Black Paris

Parc Montsouris - lake
© Entrée to Black Paris

South of the park is the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris.  The stately Fondation Deutsch de la Meurthe is only a couple of blocks away from Villa du Parc de Montsouris.

Fondation Deutsch de la Meurthe
© Entrée to Black Paris

A couple of blocks north of the Villa along the western edge of the park is the utterly charming square Montsouris (which is actually a private street).

Square Montsouris at avenue Reille
© Entrée to Black Paris

Square Montsouris
© Entrée to Black Paris

Nearby is the impressive Reservoir de Montsouris (formerly called Reservoir de la Vanne, then Reservoir de Montrouge), one of five reservoirs of potable water in Paris.

Reservoir de Montsouris viewed from avenue Reille
© Entrée to Black Paris

Reservoir de Montsouris viewed from rue de la Tombe Issoire
© Entrée to Black Paris

The reservoir is bordered on one side by avenue Reille, the street on which Jimmy "Lover Man" Davis lived from the late 1950s until the late 1990s.  I have not been able to find any evidence that Simone met the man who wrote the song that she recorded years after Billie Holiday made it famous, or knew that they were practically neighbors!

It's hard to know what this neighborhood was like in the early 80s.  But if it was anything like it is now, Simone lived in an idyllic place!