Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The oldest house in Paris?


It's been a while since I've been willing to show you this house... Why? Not really because it's pretty, nor because it makes a nice photo, but because it has a long history. This house used to belong to Nicolas Flamel, a famous "Paris bourgeois" who lived in the middle ages (between 1330 and 1418 approximately). He was a scrivener - among many other things - and became wealthy after marrying Pernelle, a rich widow. A lot of stories revolved around him (that he was a alchimist, that he achieved immortality...) but above all, he was mainly generous, helping the poor to survive in these difficult times. You can read more about him on Wikipedia of course and if you come to Paris, you can see the house for yourself at rue de Montmorency in the Marais. BTW, Nicolas Flamel is also mentioned in Harry Potter (he is said to be the friend of Dumbledore!)

33 comments:

  1. Nicolas Flamel isn't merely a friend of Dumbledore. Book 1 is practically named after him!

    Thanks for showing us this house. I hadn't heard of it before.

    And now I'm going to run off, because you don't want to get me started on Harry Potter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Me either, Suzy. Nice to know there is at least one other Potterhead on PDP. I hunted this address down on my last trip solely because of J.K. Rowling. Thanks for the memory, Eric.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eric, I read about this house and M. Flamel a few years ago in a wonderful little book called "A Corner in the Marais" by Alex Karmel.

    Thanks for the photo!
    Angela Bell

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very interesting! Flamel was supposed to be Dumbledore's friend?! I'm going to have to re-read. It's been so many years...so many books and so many pages ago, I totally forgot.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SRQ - "Fictional" Flamel was the creator of the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, which made him immortal. Voldemort tried to steal the stone in the first book. In the end, Dumbledore convinced Flamel to destroy the stone because it was too dangerous. I suppose he died shortly thereafter.

    I'm shutting up now. Really.

    ~~waves to Mrs. V~~

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love this angle too, Eric. I'm with Suzy—include me in the PDP HP fan club! I know this place well because last time I was in Paris, the van driver who was taking us to the airport to go home insisted we had lots of time and just had to take us all over, including a detour to admire this house.
    BTW, we missed our flight but I managed to convince Air France that it was their fault and they gave us vouchers for the full cost (and more)—so merci, Nicolas Flamel (and Air France)!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had seen this house a few years ago as it appears in the left photo at Wiki. It looks quite spiffy now. But a restaurant in a 600 year old house. No telling how many natural (or not) beginnings of eternal rest occurred there. Enough perhaps that one need not be surprised if there were wait staff that appeared a bit less than corporeal.

    ReplyDelete
  8. *waves to Suzy & Mrs. V*

    Standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, I see myself...in Paris! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alexa!!!! What a story! That is just a great story. Wow.

    Eric, you've got the Tenin Angle going without even having to lie down! I like the photo a lot - the angles and reflections in the windows break it up really nicely.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines..." Your title made me think of MADELINE which I read to my daughters over and over when they were young.

    ReplyDelete
  11. LOL Linda. I bet most of the PDPers would see themselves in Paris in the mirror of Erised. Maybe taking a weekend trip to Beauxbatons?

    Did you folks see Rowling's acceptance speech for the Legion of Honor? Cracked me up when she apologized to the French for giving Voldemort a French name.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, just one more.

    "Ou est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avon perdu."

    Okay, I think I have HP out of my system, unless there are any French fans who can tell us how the spot-on French accents are done in the French translation.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this up, up and away shot, Eric! As for Nicholas Flamel, the name did sound familiar, but I couldn't recall the details, since my brain is a bit like a {pen}sieve at the moment!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This does make a nice photo. I love photos of old houses and Parisiens ones in particular, lol.

    I wont get started on HP - promise you that, LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very nice Tenin perspective, Eric! (Although I bet there were no gymnastic abilities involved in this one :) Interesting about Flamel, I've never heard of him, so that is something new to learn today. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Is this the building with the restaurant on the first floor? If so, it is very tasty and our English friends were impressed because the chef made special entrees to cater to their allergenic style diet! Great regular food too and such great surroundings.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fascinating,Eric. I would have expected it to look older than it does! Obviously the windows are new, but it still looks very tidy.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The oldest house in Paris?
    - When we went on a river cruise a few years ago, the tour guide pointed out a house on the Ille de la Citie as the 'oldest house in Paris'
    However, it now appears that this only refers to the ground floor of the house which itself has had some alterations over the years.
    Others houses have claimed this distinction, but it seems to be agreed that the Flamel House is the oldest 'complete house' whose age can be verified with complete certainty. (Unlike some women I know!)
    Also of course, it can't be seen from the river!

    ReplyDelete
  19. HARRY POTTER FOREVER!!!

    ...oops, did I say that out loud?

    ReplyDelete
  20. It would be pretty cool to live in a building with so much history. There is also a rue Nicolas Flamel.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I seem to recall there is an older house, circa 1100s, that is the oldest in Paris, nearby in the Marais. Also, there is a very old house, maybe 1300s (?), on rue Volta.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Shell: "{pen}sieve at the moment!" LOL. Good one!

    ReplyDelete
  23. hye Eric. very nice blog. i like to read your post in this blog. One of my dream is visit to Paris. hope one day i can visit to Paris..:) Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  24. I've read that there are a number of houses claiming this "oldest" title but none have been verified. So, now I'm not sure if anyone's verified whether there's verification or not!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow!! The house I pretty much grew up in back in New England was built in 1777 during the Revolutionary War and we thought that was old!! The basement still had the two cold cellars, one for canned good and the other for meats and vegetables that they would try to make last the winter.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Jeff, the house in Rue Volta has evidently had doubts expressed over its age with expert opinion now saying that it is in fact 17th century. This whole 'oldest house' thing is a can of worms - no wonder Eric expressed it as a question rather then a statement of fact - I'm off to bed.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ah. Last year, I tried to find this house, got a bit lost, and never succeeded. I'll try again next time.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Very neat! I don't know as much Potter as most of you here, but this is very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Very fun to see from this angle, Eric. Thank you. If Flamel did not achieve immortality through his supposed alchemy, he certainly has achieved it through literary mention. The first HP book came out in the US when my daughter was in 3rd grade. Our family partner read through all seven books as they came out, so the HP stories are held dear in our household. We are looking forward to revisiting the series via the next to the last film in the Harry Potter series next month. When you stop to think of how many works of poetry, plays, and fiction make Paris home base in their stories or include some aspect of it's history in the plot, it is amazing. There are special tours for fans of Dan Brown's books, and I've heard many people mention they sought out this house for the HP connection. Who hasn't gone sleuthing for Victor Hugo or Hemingway's haunts, or sought out Balzac's monument or Moliere's. Right now I'm reading a detective novel in a series which takes place in specific neighborhoods in Paris. Literary Paris is a world that weaves in and out of the concrete Paris. There is so much history in every glance down any Parisian street. This is fun to see.
    -Kim

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hello

    Your article is on Home Page of BlogBang.com today :)!

    http://www.blogbang.com/

    Caroline

    ReplyDelete
  31. "Thank you for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbour were preparing to do some research about that. We got a excellent book on that matter from our local library and most books where not as influensive as your facts. I am very glad to see such information which I was searching for a long time.This created very glad! Anyway, in my language, you will find not significantly excellent supply like this."

    ReplyDelete
  32. No mention of the great restaurant in this building Auberge Nicholas Flames. It is a great French experience restaurant with good food for the price.

    We always tell our guests when we rent our apartment (see at www.vrbo.com/100027 and www.homeaway.com/183307 to try it! Its fabulous!

    Julie and Bill Boston

    ReplyDelete