This is the right place to stay if the trip is about walking. Cafés are easy. A serious Shanghainese meal is usually a short ride away, not on the prettiest corner.
The same area is where the tea-ceremony approach still happens. Keep walking.
Shanghai · 原法租界
French Concession
Not one gate. A neighborhood. Wukang Road and Anfu Road are the streets people mean. There is nothing to reserve and nowhere you are required to buy a ticket.