Rue Crémieux: Colourful Houses, Visiting Rules and Access

Updated on October 8, 2026

Rue Crémieux is a short, cobbled, pedestrian street in the 12th arrondissement, between rue de Lyon and rue de Bercy, near Gare de Lyon. About 144 metres long, it is lined with low houses painted in pastel colours, built in the 1850s to house workers. Heavily photographed, it remains above all a residential street: visitors are asked to be discreet.

Highlights

The pastel facades

One- and two-storey houses painted pink, blue, yellow or green line a cobbled roadway closed to traffic. Potted plants and trompe-l'oeil details complete the scene; you can walk the street in a few minutes.

The calm of early morning

The street is far quieter early on weekdays, the best time to photograph the facades without disturbing residents or waiting your turn.

The 1910 flood plaque

A plaque on one of the houses records that the water rose about 1.75 m during the great Seine flood of January 1910.

Practical info

Tips

People live here, and several residents have put up signs asking for respect for their peace: keep your voice down, do not linger in front of windows, do not enter private property and do not block the way. Filming is banned: the City of Paris lists the street among the "rues mises au repos" closed to film shoots "until further notice" (list consulted in October 2026). Residents have asked for gates to close the street on evenings and weekends; we found no official confirmation of such a measure, so check on site. For other photogenic spots, see our selection of Instagrammable Paris.