I won a prize for decrypting the acronym SoPi as South of Pigalle for someone called @benjilanyado who is currently conducting an unusual Paris break by following directions from twitter users. The prize is “a big bloke on a house, rue Biot, 18th” so I suppose that means I can blog it here:

Pigalle is the name of a metro station, a main street and an area of Paris famous mostly for the Moulin Rouge nightclub and other entertainments connected to a greater or lesser extent with the sex industry. It’s also a popular area for reasonably prices hotels popular with tourists on Paris breaks from London, being not very far from the Gare du Nord. The little quiet area just south of Pigalle has been undergoing a process of gentrification in recent years, with an influx of affluent and artsy foreigners. The nickname SoPi you will notice is not French. It was coined by an American as an act of cultural imperialism trying to make the whole world a bit more like New York (SoHo and NoHo)

Follow Benji Lanyado as he live blogs his way around Paris using tips gleaned from Twitter: Paris twitter trip #twitrip

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South of Pigalle Paris Breaks Competition