Paris: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Paris: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- Guidebooks
Return to the main line of the Boulevards, which here become distinctly
shabbier and pass through a poorer district. This part of Paris is
destitute of immediate interest, but should be traversed in order to
give the visitor a just idea of the extent and relations of the
eighteenth century city. We arrive before long at the Place de la
République, formerly =Place du Château-d’Eau=, now adorned with a new
bronze statue of the Republic. From this Place several more new
Boulevards in various directions pierce through the poorer and
densely-populated regions of eastern and north-eastern Paris. Along the
main line, the Bds. du Temple, des Filles du Calvaire, and Beaumarchais
lead hence through increasingly poorer-looking districts to the =Place
de la Bastille=, where stood the famous strong castle of that name
(Bastille St. Antoine), destroyed in the Revolution. Its site is now
occupied by the =Colonne de Juillet=, erected to commemorate the
Revolution of 1830. Hence the Rue St. Antoine leads R in one line into
the Rue de Rivoli near the Hôtel de Ville. Beyond the line of the
Boulevards, L, it takes the name of Rue du Faubourg St. Antoine. This
was the region of the poorer and fiery revolutionists of 1789–93.
The district =within= the Boulevards in this direction was in the Valois
period the most fashionable part of Paris. It contained the old royal
palace of the Hôtel St. Paul, together with numerous other _hôtels_ of
the French nobility. From the Place de la Bastille, also, new Boulevards
diverge in several directions. You had better return to the centre of
the town by the Rue St. Antoine, where the third turning to the R will
lead you direct into the =Place des Vosges=, a curious belated relic of
the Paris of Henri IV. Its interesting architecture and quiet stranded
air will well repay you for the slight détour, and will suggest to you
the possibility of many similar agreeable walks in the same district.
Mr. Hare will prove a most efficient guide to this quaint district, for
those who have time to explore it thoroughly. Remember always that the
_least_ important part of Paris, historically speaking, is the western
region which alone is known to most passing strangers.
V
THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN
(LUXEMBOURG, ETC.)
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