then and now - Paris 18

[Anne]

That's both nice and unusual, so many old shops or cafés have been turned into banks or hairdressers ...

[kerouac]

Château Rouge métro

[mossie]

It is very interesting to see that the shop on the left is still a shoe shop, if only now a chain.

But very disappointing to see that the old Guimard metro entrance has been replaced.

[kerouac]

Most of the art nouveau metro entrances were considered to be hopelessly old fashioned in the 1950's and 60's. So they were dismantled and thrown away.

[Sandy M]

That's really a shame as the art noveau entrances are one of my favorite things about Paris!

I'm enjoying all these then and now pictures - thanks for posting.

Sandy M

[Laura NY (aoi33)]

The Museum of Modern Art here in NY has a Guimard Metro entrance in its scultpure garden.

As to the photographs, there is a book, Paris Changing, which does more of the same:

www.amazon.com/Paris-Changing-Revisiting-Eugene-Atgets/dp/1568986807/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236471713&sr=8-1

My husband gave it to me as a present and it is quite good, especially if you know the exact spot any given picture was taken.

[kerouac]

I found another photo on the net that was taken out of my apartment window 100 years ago. I wonder if they could have ever imagined that I would do the same thing.

[Jody]

That's amazing that you would find that one!

[kerouac]

Here is a major nearby intersection. It appears that domes have gone out of fashion.

[phread]

Wow. Hadn't been here in a while. The Cremerie across from Bata shoes looks like it has the same awning that it did a hundred years ago and the poto from your apartment window. AMAZING.

[kerouac]

Do you see the first low roof on the right of the photo out of my apartment window? That is the first McDonald's that you see coming into Paris from Porte de la Chapelle.

[kerouac]

This is my local church, Saint Denys de la Chapelle. The first church at this location was built in 475 at the site of the grave of Saint Denis, and it is the presence of this church that created my neighborhood (La Chapelle), because it became a pilgrimage site. Unfortunately, King Dagobert had the sacred relics transferred to La Plaine Saint Denys, a few kilometers north, in 636. This caused the village of La Chapelle to decline somewhat for next several hundred years, other than being a stopover point along the original Roman road to Brussels and London.

Anyway the current church was finally built in the 11th century and was completed in 1204. The style is called "primitive gothic" although you can't really see much from the outside. Joan of Arc lived in the village for a couple of weeks in September 1429 while unsucessfully trying to attack Paris to the south, occupied by the English.

Up until the 19th century, La Chapelle remained an agricultural village with a population of 700, and then it was suddenly swallowed by Paris.

You can see on the left of the church, there is now a second church bearing the name Basilique Sainte Jeanne d'Arc. The archbishop of Paris promised to build Joan of Arc a basilica if Paris was spared after the attack of German troops in September 1914. They didn't get around to begin construction until about 1935 and only the façade was built according to the original blueprints. In the meantime, the French had lost all interest in religion, and the damned thing wasn't even finished until 1964.

I noticed on their website that the priest of the parish is Polish, and I have seen for myself that the congregation consists mostly of Africans and Indians, plus a few old white people.

[mossie]

Thanks for some more history. I always thought St Denis was extremely tough to have walked so far with his head tucked underneath his arm. Your version is far more logical

It is fascinating to see how the side entrances to the Church have changed between the dates of the three pics.