Bal Bullier was a ballroom in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, created by François Bullier in the mid-nineteenth century.

History

François Bullier was an employee of

La Grande Chaumière LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

ballroom. In 1843, he purchased the Prado d'Été located 31 avenue de l'Observatoire in the

5th arrondissement of Paris The 5th arrondissement of Paris (''Ve arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''le cinquième''. The arrondisseme ...

. In 1847, he finished remodeling the place and opened it to the public under the name

Closerie des Lilas The Closerie des Lilas () is a famous Parisian restaurant (or brasserie) located on the Boulevard du Montparnasse in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was opened in 1847 by François Bullier and was a simple brasserie at the beginning. Initial ...

. The ballroom was a hangout for students where they could dance, play

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

, practice

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

and shooting. Bullier added an oriental touch in 1850, and a

Gallic rooster The Gallic rooster (, ) is a national symbol of France as a nation, as opposed to Marianne representing France as a state and its values: the Republic. A rooster, in a different pose, is also used as the symbol of the Wallonia and the French Co ...

in 1895 with the Latin posting "salvatit et placuit" (he saves and soothes).Le Bal Bullier - Paris 5e
''Lartnouveau.com'' The Bullier Hall was popular for dancing and drinking. The entrance fee was two francs on Thursday nights, and one franc on Saturday nights. It closed its doors in 1940. It was located at 39 Avenue

Georges Bernanos Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos (; 20 February 1888 – 5 July 1948) was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought and was opposed to what he identified as d ...

in the district of Val-de-Grace in the 5th arrondissement, at the location of Bullier Centre CROUS. File:Bal du Prado, 1855.jpg, Bal du Prado by Theodor Josef Hubert Hoffbauer, 1855. File:Toegangspoort van het Bal Bullier te Parijs Le Nouveau Paris (serietitel), RP-F-F05185.jpg, Entrance gate, 1850–1875. File:Entrée du Bal Bullier.jpg, Entrance gate, circa 1914. File:BAL BULLIER.jpg, Entrance gate, circa 1930. File:Bullier 1888 - Chéret.jpg, Poster of the Bal Bullier, 1888. File:Georges Meunier, Le Bal Bullier, 1894.jpg, Poster of the Bal Bullier, 1894. File:Cheret, Jules - Redoute des Etudiants (pl 85).jpg, Poster of the Bal Bullier, 1894.

In popular culture

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (; 14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist born to Jewish parents, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, be ...

's ''Bal Bullier'' is a painting known for both its use of color and movement. The three-act lyrical comedy

La Rondine ''La rondine'' (''The Swallow'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and . It was first performed at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo (or the Thé� ...

by Italian composer

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

, premiered in 1917 at the Monte Carlo Opera House, takes place in the second act in the Bal Bullier. File:Charles Vernier, Closerie des lilas - NYPL Digital Collections.tif, ''Closerie des lilas'' by Charles Vernier, 1847. File:Scene in the Gardens of Closerie Des Lilas, Paris.jpg, ''Scene in the Gardens of Closerie Des Lilas, Paris'', 1851. File:A. Provost, Le bal Bullier - NYPL Digital Collections.tif, ''Le Bal Bullier'' by A. Provost and Auguste Bry, 1860–1869. File:Le Bal Bullier, dessin d’apres nature de M. Myrbach.jpg, ''Le Bal Bullier'', drawing from life by Myrbach, 1882. File:Ludovic Vallée - Le jardin du bal Bullier, la nuit - P1883 - Musée Carnavalet.jpg, ''Le jardin du bal Bullier, la nuit'' by Ludovic Vallet, 1902. File:Ida Gerhardi Tanzbild VIII.jpg, ''Danseuses cancan in Bullier'' by

Ida Gerhardi Ida Gerhardi (2 August 1862 – 29 June 1927) was a German Neo-Impressionist painter who spent much of her career in Paris. Biography She was born in Hagen on 2 August 1862. Her father was a medical doctor. After his early death in 1869, the ...

, 1904.

Bibliography

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References

{{coord, 48.8403, N, 2.3376, E, source:wikidata, display=title 1847 establishments in France 1940 disestablishments in France Nightlife in Paris Buildings and structures in the 5th arrondissement of Paris Former buildings and structures in Paris