Continual waves of newcomers have come to Paris in search of
livelihood, spiritual nourishment or political shelter. As the
population of the city grew and craved elbow space, they helped
to bring down its successive walls - from that built by Philippe
Auguste in 1190 to the last wall built by Thiers and demolished
in 1919 - always pushing out the boundaries of Paris farther from
its original nucleus, l'Ile de la Cité.
Thus developed the arrondissements which spiral outwards clockwise,
like a snail shell, keeping Paris conveniently compact, yet endowing
it with infinite potential for growth. In 1795 Paris was divided
into 12 arrondissements, but in 1860 the number was increased
to 20, when Baron Haussmann incorporated the bordering villages
into the capital. This change, determined solely by administrative
considerations, was part of the modernization that had started
with the French Revolution.
The Paris created by Baron Haussmann during the reign of Napoleon
III is, to a large extent, still the Paris of today. Supported
by some, deprecated by others, he carved through the medieval
city, doing away with many insalubrious streets to make room for
the present bright broad avenues. By now, however, Haussmann's
Paris is overlaid with the patina of time, medieval Paris is more
of a film set than a reality and the fragments of 'villages' that
the sharp observer can still spot here and there tend to blend
into the more recent overall unity of their respective arrondissements.
Today the administrative life of every Parisian, from birth to
death, is regulated by and revolves around his arrondissement
which, in a way, has replaced his old parish. Its centre of gravity
is the monumental Mairie, where newborn babies are registered,
children are enrolled in school and couples get married; where
also social welfare is provided and sports and cultural activities
are organized. Although Parisians still speak of old neighbourhoods
such as the Marais, the Latin Quarter or Les Halles, they commonly
refer in everyday contexts to their arrondissements. Each arrondissement
now has its history, its own economic, social and cultural heritage
and its own local colour and character, even though the uniformity
of modernization has rendered the differences indistinguishable
to the unpractised eye.
Because the arrondissements reflect the social, economic and cultual
pattern of Paris, it is essential to focus on these in order to
understand Paris thoroughly. This book is therefore organized
by arrondissements, so as to allow the city to unfold little by
little before your eyes. The names of streets, the geographic
location of the city's monuments, the social and ethnic distribution
of the population will become meaningful and coherent.
You will understand that it is not pure chance that draws the wealthy to
the 16th arrondissement or publishers to the 6th. You will find
out how and why haute couture started in the 1st arrondissement
and why it has recently shifted to the 8th. You will realize why
the 5th has to some extent lost its soul and why embassies are
often located in the 7th. Each arrondissement has compelling stories
to tell and therefore none has been given priority. They tell
stories of humble craftsmen and great rulers, of everyday tragedies
and of outbursts of rejoicing or social confrontations; stories
of adulation and scorn, of scandals, gossip, passion and crime.
Some of the stories may be apocryphal, all are part of Paris lore.
Although the past has been searchingly unearthed, the ebullient
present has not been neglected. The speed with which the French
capital has leapt forward into the modern age is stunning. Never
have so many architects and town planners had their eyes riveted
on the French metropolis, nor has its traditional way of life
been so threatened.
As chains of supermarkets replace small shops,
as working women renounce fine cuisine in favour of pre-cooked
frozn meals, as television replaces street entertainment, Paris
can boast an ever-increasing number of high-rises, throughways,
traffic jams, junk food and clothes shops…
The banks of the
river Seine, once the home of fishermen and winos and the promenade
of amorous couples, have been largely taken over by fast cars.
Old-time homely French restaurants are hard to come by now that
the colourful French working-class is all but extinct. In an upwardly
mobile society a medley of Third World nationals have taken their
place and introduced their own homely restaurants, equally colourful
but not French.
If you long for bygone days, you may be grieved to see multitudes
of fast-food restaurants and a riot of T-shirts in shop windows
or dangling above street stalls. However, the picturesque open-air
flower and food markets, the bird market, the book-stalls, the
odd street organ are still there. Many French people still eat
baguette and camembert, and men still like a good game of boules,
even though they have long given up their basque berets. On the
other hand, if you are a forward-looking optimist, you will appreciate
the fact that more and more young people are articulate in foreign
languages.
By the time you have reached the end of your journey, it may
strike you that Paris has always been a city in the making, born
out of the latent or explosive tensions between the forces of
reaction and the forces of progress, and out of the necessities
of time. A city willed by authoritarian regimes but also the spontaneous
emanation of its headstrong people, it is the very expression
of the vitality of French society.
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