Colette
Lived here · 1906–1911
The home of Mathilde de Morny (Missy), where Colette lived much of the time during their relationship after leaving Willy, while keeping apartments of her own nearby.
2 rue Georges-Ville
Still standing
Outside only
A private home
The home of Mathilde de Morny — Missy — where Colette lived through much of their relationship after leaving Willy.
- 2 rue Georges-Ville, 75116 Paris
- 1906–1911
Illustration
The place, briefly
After she separated from Willy late in 1906, Colette spent much of her time at 2 rue Georges-Ville, the home of Mathilde de Morny — the Marquise de Belbeuf, known as Missy — with whom she was then in a relationship. She kept apartments of her own nearby, but this was the household at the center of those years.
It was the period of their open life together and of the Moulin Rouge scandal of January 1907, when the two performed the mime Rêve d'Égypte and the police banned it. The relationship lasted until about 1911, when Colette took up with Henry de Jouvenel. The building stands in the 16th arrondissement.
Key facts
- 2 rue Georges-Ville, 16th arrondissement
- Mathilde de Morny (Missy); Colette lived here much of 1906–1911
- The center of Colette and Missy's years together, around the Moulin Rouge scandal
- Private residence; the building stands
In images
Timeline
After leaving Willy, Colette lives largely with Missy at 2 rue Georges-Ville.
The Rêve d'Égypte scandal at the Moulin Rouge falls in these years.
The relationship ends as Colette takes up with Henry de Jouvenel.
On the map
Writers who knew this place
Within walking distance
40 rue Paul-Valéry
The house Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet had built for themselves in the early 1880s on what was then the rue de Villejust — her home, her studio, and the setting of a salon that drew Renoir, Degas and Mallarmé.
Visit the place
44 rue de Villejust
The ground-floor apartment Colette rented on her own after leaving Willy, remembered as a place of new independence. The building no longer exists.
Visit the place
44 rue de l'Amiral-Hamelin
Marcel Proust's last address, and the flat he hated. He moved here in 1919 when 102 boulevard Haussmann was sold out from under him, called it an ignoble hovel, finished correcting his novel here, and died in the building on 18 November 1922.
Visit the place
3 place des États-Unis
Where Edith Wharton stayed with her brother when she arrived in Paris in 1906 — the beginning of the move that would take her out of America permanently.
Visit the placeReferences
References
The sources below include histories, archival materials, scholarly research, and official records that informed this page. They document 2 rue Georges-Ville, the people connected to it, and its place in Paris.
1Sur les pas des écrivains : Colette
WebsiteTerres d'écrivainsUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the 2 rue Georges-Ville page.
2Société des amis de Colette — Chronology
WebsiteUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the 2 rue Georges-Ville page.
3OpenStreetMap
Map dataUsed forMap data used to verify addresses, geographic coordinates, and the placement associated with 2 rue Georges-Ville.
4Société des amis de Colette — Lieux de vie
WebsiteUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the 2 rue Georges-Ville page.
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Why these sources are here
These references provide the documented foundation for this page's history and context. Claim-level citations remain attached to the specific claims they support.
Explore more resourcesNewsletter
Paris, one address at a time.
The cafés, studios, and walk-up flats where the work was made — one story from the map in every letter.