Jim Morrison Footbridge

On April 11, 2025, a footbridge over the Port de l’Arsenal, in Paris, was given a new name: the Jim Morrison Footbridge (Passerelle Jim Morrison). The ceremony was simple, with a plaque unveiled by the Paris City Council alongside officials and fans. Nothing grand. In a way, that feels consistent with everything surrounding Jim Morrison in Paris.

The bridge sits at Rue Mornay, connecting Boulevard Bourdon to Boulevard de la Bastille, and was originally built in 1825. For two centuries, it had no official name. Now it bears the name of an American musician who lived in Paris for four months in 1971—and never really left.

Why did Paris name a bridge after Jim Morrison?

The decision came in the year The Doors marked their 60th anniversary. But the geographic reasoning is just as strong as the symbolic one: the footbridge is only a few minutes from the apartment on Rue Beautreillis, in the 4th arrondissement, where Morrison lived with Pamela Courson and where he died on July 3, 1971. He crossed this area many times during the months he spent in the Marais.

The name makes sense on the map. And it makes sense in the story.

What is the Jim Morrison Footbridge?

There’s nothing monumental about the bridge. It’s a simple structure spanning the canal of the Port de l’Arsenal, overlooking moored boats. The water is calm, the boats line the edges, and trees frame the view on both sides. It’s one of the quieter corners of this part of Paris.

The plaque bearing the name is fixed to the structure—subtle, like everything connected to Jim Morrison in Paris.

A recent (and welcome) addition to Morrison’s Paris map

Until 2025, the places associated with Jim Morrison in Paris all dated back to his lifetime: the apartment where he lived, Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Place des Vosges, the cafés of Saint-Germain. The footbridge is the city’s first official posthumous tribute—and the only one with a plaque. The apartment on Rue Beautreillis, where he actually lived and died, still has no marker.

There’s a certain irony in that—one Morrison might have appreciated, since anonymity was exactly what he sought in the city.

How to visit the Jim Morrison Footbridge

The footbridge is a good place to start or end a Jim Morrison walking route through the Marais, as it lies along the way to the apartment on Rue Beautreillis. From the Port de l’Arsenal to number 17 Rue Beautreillis, it’s about a ten-minute walk.

Take your time crossing. Look at the boats. It’s the kind of place that matches what Morrison was looking for when he chose this neighborhood.