TOURISTS looking for old Paris charm and a taste of La Vie en Rose should head to Belleville, a largely overlooked part of the city and the birthplace of Edith Piaf.Only five Metro stops from town hall, Belleville has retained much of its working-class identity and bubbles with concert halls, theatres and bars.Add waves of immigrants and young creative types out drinking, eating and carousing, and you get a funky atmosphere similar to New York’s East Village.It offers much for the visitor, not least a panoramic view over Paris that rivals Montmartre, and is free of peddlers and hawkers.Yet few tourists stray farther than Pere Lachaise cemetery, burial place for celebrities including Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and Piaf.Even the success of La Vie en Rose, which won actor Marion Cotillard a best actress Academy Award and rekindled interest in Piaf, isn’t drawing the masses to the area.”It’s an area that hasn’t yet been discovered by tourists,” said Sophie Millot, a culture official from Paris’ 20th arrondissement, or district, on the east side of the city.”At the moment, it’s Parisians who are starting to explore.”Belleville has suffered from a bad reputation, cemented by the 1952 film Casque d’Or (Golden Helmet), inspired by the true story of rival bands of Belleville thugs.

Near the site of a violent fight in the film, philosopher-come-nightclub owner Cyril Aouizerate has built a 172-room, Philippe Starck-designed hotel called Mamashelter.

He said the district was no more dangerous than other parts of Paris.

“People who come here like the cosmopolitan feel,” Mr Aouizerate said.

Be prepared, though, for scruffier streets than the sparkling avenues and boulevards of central Paris.

Once a hilltop village with a “belle vue” or beautiful view of Paris, Belleville was annexed to Paris in 1860, when planner Baron Haussmann tried to quash the locals’ rebellious spirit, cutting the village down the middle. The man responsible for Paris’ wide boulevards left Belleville’s streets largely untouched.

As legend goes, Piaf was born as Edith Giovanna Gassion on the pavement outside 72 rue de Belleville in the depth of winter. Overwhelmed by contractions, her mother, cafe singer Annetta Giovanna Maillard, huddled in the doorway while Piaf’s acrobat father went to call for an ambulance.

But Louis Alphonse Gassion stopped at cafes and bars to celebrate, leaving two policemen to help deliver Edith on the footpath.

The reality, however, is more banal. Piaf’s birth certificate states she was born at the Hospital Tenon.

It is on display at the Edith Piaf museum, two rooms of memorabilia in a Belleville apartment belonging to Bernard Marchois, author of several Piaf biographies.

He first met Piaf five years before her death when, as a boy, he listened to her sing at her apartment in the upmarket 16th arrondissement.

Souvenirs include gold and platinum records, photos, letters and even a life-sized teddy bear, a gift from husband Theo Sarapo. Also on show is her famous little black dress and boxing gloves belonging to the love of her life, Marcel Cerdan.

Piaf’s voice, which Marlene Dietrich called “the soul of Paris”, still haunts many of Belleville’s concert halls, even if the music has changed and several have closed.

A sign outside the Nouveau Palais de Belleville, a Chinese restaurant at 46 rue de Belleville, hails the Theatre National de Belleville, which once stood in its place.

At 105 rue du Faubourg du Temple is another former Piaf haunt, La Java, still a concert hall, but now offering pop rock and electro break drum. Non-profit organisation Ca se visite! offers guided tours to the district in French and English.

“I went to the Eiffel Tower yesterday and I felt like a tourist. Here, I feel like I’m tasting living history,” said Italian musician Lucia Lazzeri.