Bigot was born in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France and was encouraged into the arts by his mother. At the age of twelve, he was accepted by the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was trained by artists such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Carolus-Duran. While in school, Bigot was introduced to Japonism and befriended a number of collectors of Japanese art. He was also impressed with the Japanese pavilion at the Exposition Universelle (1878), all of which aroused in him a strong interest to move to Japan. In order to pay for the trip, he became an illustrator for newspapers, "La Vie Moderne" and "The World Parisien" and sold illustrations for Émile Zola's novel "Nana". Bigot arrived in Yokohama in 1882. On arrival, he took lessons in the Japanese language and Japanese painting, and taught watercolor painting to students at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy as an "oyatoi gaikokujin". He also sold illustrations to Japanese newspapers, and issued an illustrated book "Japanese Sketches".