Paris giant has left...

Browsing through my old photos, I just came across this one! I originally posted a photo of him in January 2008 and went back recently there to see if he was still hanging, but he had left (he left in June 2010, in fact)! Why did they hang this guy on this school? Because of a legend: a giant called Isoire (or Isoré, or even Issoire which is now the name of the street) used to rob people there in the old times. Someone (Guillaume d'Orange) is said to have chopped his head off, and buried the rest of the body on site! I wish I knew the real story behind this one!

Sewer street!

Had you walked in this street (Léopold-Bellan) about 500 years ago, you would have needed a good pair of boots or even a small boat for this was a huge sewer (it was even called sewer street - rue des Aigouts - at that time. It's only around 1815 that the sewers were covered and the street turned into a "real" street. If the people who used tho live there would come back today, they would certainly be surprised to see that it's now a pretty trendy area ;-)

Remains of the past

Did I take this photo in the 30's? No I was not born, thank you very much... I took it right before my departure. But it does look like it's from the old Paris times doesn't it? Well it's what's left of La Samaritaine (the back of it), probably a delivery zone or something and they haven't touched it yet (the Samaritaine is currently being turned into a hotel and a few other things and should reopen in 2015).  

Old and new Paris

Here is a little store I saw near Montmartre that I thought was really cute and could have belonged to the "old Paris" (It sells Papier peints, that is Wallpaper). But the real reason why I chose this photo today is because I want you to try this fantastic before and after photo selection of Paris that allows you to see simultaneously a street/square/building around 1900 and now. Very very cleverly made (on top of each photo you'll see Faites coulisser la poignée rouge. It means: "drag the red handle". I'm sure you'll understand how it works anyway. You have to try it!  

An unusual metro station

When you think of the Paris metro, you probably have in mind one of the typical Art nouveau entrances designed by Hector Guimard. Well, he did not do them all... Hence this one, near Place Monge, located at rue de Navarre, probably one of the oldest streets in Paris (it takes you to the famous Lutèce arenas, that were built by the Romans, when they used to live in "Paris" - which was called Lutèce at that time). I did not find any information about this station - who built it -  but I really like it.

The new Folies Bergère

The Folies Bergère theater is one of the oldest and mythical music halls in Paris. It opened in 1869 and was one of the first theaters to show nude women and to offer costumed numbers which apparently was previously banned by the law at that time. A lot of Paris art history took place there: Josephine Baker had a review in the 30's so did Maurice Chevalier, Mistingett, etc. Maupassant mentioned it in Bel Ami, Manet painted one of the most famous impressionist photos there (Le Bar des Folies Bergère)... to name a few. I was going to forget why I took a photo of it today... Simply because they just redid the facade during the summer (it was about time!) and it really looks neat now!

Little house in... the urban jungle

Amazing little house, that I found off rue Corentin Cariou in the 19th arrondissement. After some research on the Web I found out it's not at all a house, but the former Pont de Flandre train station that once belonged to the "small belt", a train track ring that would run around Paris and was closed to passengers in 1934. I read that they are going to renovate it... but it seems there is still a long way to go! Here is a little video, from another angle.

Telephone booth

I took this photograph very recently in a restaurant, but don't go thinking we still use these od telephone booths! They belong to the 50th, when mobile phones did not exist and when even having a home line was hard (in 1968, the rumor had it that half of the French was waiting for their phone line, while the other half was waiting for the dial tone!). Now we're very lucky; I pay 35 € per month for my phone line/DSL /cable television access and I don't even pay for my calls anymore, even internationally!

The oldest quarry in Paris

This is probably not the nicest view of Paris I posted on PDP, but it's a very unusual one. This, ladies and gentlemen, is nothing less than the oldest quarry in Paris... (not, it's not the catacombs!). It's located in the 13th arrondissement, at Rue Gustave Geffroy near an old river called La Bièvre, that used to run through Paris. It was used to extract stones to build Roman houses when Paris was still called "Lutèce" (around 50 BC). There is not much to see, nor to discover, so now they are going to build a child day care facility on it... More - in French in this video.

Wholesaler in Le Sentier

I already mentioned the historical area of Paris called Le Sentier (after the name of one of the major streets that runs through it) which is also the heart of the French clothing wholesale. As I already mentionned, it was originally the Jews who had most of the shmates (clothe in Yiddish) business these, but now, they are more and more replaced by Chinese and Pakistani. Here is a proof! The René Somekh business does not exist anymore, even if its plaque remains...

Le Sentier

Here is a very typical and historical area of Paris I never told you about. It's called Le Sentier (after the name of one of the major streets that runs through it) and it's the heart of the French clothing wholesale. It's a place where a lot of immigrants started their company - and sometimes made their wealth: originally mostly Jews (from North Africa), but now more and more Chinese and Pakistani. It's also a place known for its illegal workshops (constantly chased by the Police though) and illegal day workers hired to carry loads of garments and fabric from one place to another on these little red and blue trolleys that you can see in the photo. And, last but not least, in my opinion, it's the next up and coming area of Paris...

Some brands never die...

This is probably not the most beautiful photo I've ever posted here, but what it shows is interesting. In the background, there is a large painted wall on which you can see the remains of two typical old French ads: one for the soap Cadum and the other one for Dubonnet, a wine based aperitif. Both of these brands are very well known in France even though they are extremely old (Cadum was first launched in 1907 and Dubonnet in 1846). On top of that, both products still exist and are currently sold even though their advertising campaign is somewhat different nowadays ;). BTW I found this wall in the 13th arrondissement in rue de Tolbiac (close to number 126, obviously!)

Raider of the lost island...

A few days ago, I noticed this old map of Paris in a shop window. It says "Nouveau plan de la ville de Paris, capitale du royaume de France" (new map of Paris, France's kingdom capital) but it's probably 600 years old, as it mentions l'Isle Louvier (after the name of its owner, Mr Louvier!), an island that was then next to île Saint Louis . Don't look for it if you come to Paris, this island does not exist anymore, as it has been "attached" to the right bank in 1847. I had never heard of this story until today. Thank you PDP ;)

Medieval House

Medieval houses are very rare in Paris. These two at 11 & 13, rue Francois-Miron are attributed to a feed store and to a sheep keeper. They can be credited in their primitive state to the 14th century. In 1607, it was ordered to cover the wood of such houses with plaster ("Plaster of Paris" of course!) to prevent fire, but the architects who restored the building have restored it to it's original state.They were reconstructed in 1967. See the exact location on Google Maps

Grey mood

It may look a little provocative to post a photo of a place called Le passage d'Enfer (literally translated “passage from hell”) right after a Catholic holiday (yesterday - Thursday - was the "Ascension"), but this photo illustrates perfectly what Paris looks like at the moment: grey, cold and... rainy!. This Passage d'Enfer is located in the 14th arrondissement, off the boulevard Raspail and not far from the boulevard Saint Michel and, apparently, it's name originates from a time - long ago - when it was a bad neighborhood.