Although you’re unlikely to see any of the grey flannel suits and pencil mustaches that one might associate with the Parisian jazz scene there are a number of cafes and brasseries around the capital that are populated, on the occasional night, by large Frenchmen and Jazz Manouche kings. With a smattering of dark overcoats and Borsalino hats, this is probably the closest you can get to the old style jazz dens.

La Chope des Puces is perhaps the most renowned. It was renovated in 2008 to give a slightly more modern feel.  The resulting Espace Django Reinhardt is a temple to Gypsy jazz, offering a contemporary home to this old Parisian art. The concert hall is presided over by a large mural of Django himself. La Chope des Puces is located in Saint Ouen, just outside Paris. The place is of great significance to Manouche fans. It is near the area of caravans where Django Reinhardt used to live – and where he suffered horrific burns, which left two fingers paralyzed. All of his guitar solos were famously and distinctively played with two fingers as a result.

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