The Joyce family moved into 34 Rue des Vignes in Passy in the 16th arrondissement on 15 April 1939, a month after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia on 15 March. It was to be Joyce’s last apartment residence in Paris.
It was a small apartment, but it had far more natural light than Ludmilla’s 1920 rent-free Rue de l’Assomption apartment nearby.
Back in Passy, Joyce could return to the Boulogne Woods and Ranelagh Garden for his walks. The Ranelagh Theatre is also a short walk from the apartment.
James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake was published in 4 May 1939 while he was living in this apartment.
James Joyce stayed in this location for six months from 15 April to mid-October 1939.
James Joyce Paris Residence: Number 17 out of 18.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls