The 10th is an interesting area because it's very representative of modern Paris, which is quite the contrast with a lot of places I've been talking about. It's one of the most diverse areas of the city in terms of stuff to do/eat/see as well as the people who live there. Firstly, the northern half of the 10th is mostly an industrial/warehouse/projects (but nicer) area, largely because Paris' two biggest train stations - Gare du Nord (easily the busiest in Europe) and Gare de l'Est - are next to each other there. These are two of the biggest non-airport transportation hubs in Europe, so naturally it's a bit crowded, dirty, and hectic there.
The stations themselves are rather nice buildings, indicative of the late 19th century industrial style of Parisian architecture. (not my pictures)
Gare de l'Est (meaning the East Station)
Gare du Nord (North Station)
As you go farther south in the 10th you come across a number of different areas with very individual characteristics. One boulevard is completely lined with African hair places - hairdressers, wig places, and hair care product stuff. There are just dozens of places to buy hair stuff. A bit to the west of that is the Passage Brady, an enclosed pedestrian area that is nearly all Indian and Pakistani restaurants (definitely the most authentic in the city), while a walk north of that brings you to an area with a ton of Sri Lankan restaurants and shops. The southeastern part of the 10th is largely taken up by trendy hole-in-the-wall bars and clubs (aside from the French being spoken you could swear you were in Williamsburg, Brooklyn), while the southernmost road is lined with new and old theaters of all kinds. Many famous drama companies have been here for a couple of centuries, and more recently lots of movie theaters have come in. Here are two of the live show theaters.
There aren't too many monuments in this area, but I'll take you through some points of interest.
There are two large churches in the 10th. Firstly, the large mid 19th century St-Vincent-de-Paul church, built on the site of an old prison where the saint actually worked. (None of the church pictures are mine)
Its size and grandiosity were the result of an overly ambitious architect, and it's not particularly known as one of the more important churches in the city, architecturally. But it it rather nice, and certainly impressive. During the Paris Commune in 1871 shots and cannons somewhat damaged the bell towers.
Secondly there is St Laurent, which has a much longer and more interesting history and art. I'll do a separate post about this church later, but here is its facade: a mix of all different kinds of styles and time periods.
The outside of the central government building of the 10th is quite impressive and imposing (also not mine):
One interesting and rather unusual aspect of the 10th is that is has two of the few remaining "doors" into the city of Paris. For centuries the city was surrounded by walls to keep out intruders, and periodically there were these doors where people could enter and leave. The two in the 10th are "modern" (late 17th century) version of the medieval doors, which where actually able to open and close. This is more of a monument to mark the medieval walls and control the traffic coming in and out. The top says it was made by "Louis the Great," who was Louis XIV, to commemorate some of his military victories. These days of course these "doors" which were on the edge of the city are well inside of the actual city limits.
This one is the Porte St Martin, and nearby is the Porte St Denis.
And of course the Canal St Martin, which I talked about last week, runs north-south through the eastern side of this arrondissement. I think that about covers it for the 10th! It's a nice area to visit to get outside the touristy part of Paris, and if you look hard there are a lot of interesting things there.
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