Picpus Cemetery

In my post on the 12th arrondissement I mentioned the Picpus Cemetery, where the victims of the guillotine of the Place de la Nation.  I had originally decided to visit it while exploring the 12th in general but I found it interesting enough to merit its own post.

Firstly, it's not a very well known place; it's privately owned (though I don't know if the noble families' descendents or the church owns it) and one of the few places in the city that does not have a student discount.  There is a plaque on the wall outside saying what the place is, but there is no indication of it being a site that's open to the public.

 

("Here, in two common graves, the bodies of more than 1300 people who were guillotined at the Place du Trone [now Place de la Nation] were buried between June 13 and July 28 1794.")

I went in and it seemed deserted, with just a little chapel.  This is not the original church that was here at the time of the Revolution; a convent had been on this ground at that point but it was seized by the revolutionary government.

An older guy came out of a small office to the right and told me the site is privately owned and you have to pay two euros to get in.  It seemed like most people must leave when they find that out, because he started to go back in, but I responded that I knew that and I'd like to see the cemetery.  He seemed quite surprised, but told me where to go and gave me a little map of the grounds.  I guess no one really comes here; the only other person I saw visiting was a little old lady who I think was a family member of some of the people buried there.

Anyway, first I went to check out the chapel, which is the darkest one I've ever seen, and is dedicated to the victims of the Terror.  I had to take this picture with the door open to let in some light.  It's a simple place, with a list of those buried here in the back.

Then I went out and through the gate to the garden and cemetery.  It was immediately evident that it's historically been a site of particular American interest; the Marquis de Lafayette, aka General Lafayette of American War of Independence fame, is buried here.  These plaques are next to the gates:

("In memory of General Lafayette, 1757-1834.  Gift of the Benjamin Franklin Paris Chapter and the Daughters of the American Revolution.")

("To commemorate the arrival of General Pershing and the American army in France, July 1917.  Gift of the Benjamin Franklin Paris Chapter and the Daughters of the American Revolution.")

After that is a rather empty garden, which separates the modern chapel grounds from the old convent living areas.

That is one of the old convent walls.

Passing through the wall, I came to the cemetery proper.  There is a garden and then the burial area is off to the right, but at the far end of these trees is one of the common graves.

Weirdly, I did not take any long shots of the cemetery itself so I can't show it as a whole.  Instead I will direct you to the first part of this post, because overall it looks like a compact version of the other Parisian cemeteries.

Anyway, some background on the modern cemetery: in 1797, after the Terror was over and people were no longer being guillotined, Princess Amelie Zephyrine of Salm-Kyrburg secretly bought a small area of the old convent land, intending to make it a memorial to the victims buried there, one of whom was her brother.  By Napoleon's time some other family members of the noble victims bought the rest of the land and formed a proper cemetery right next to the common graves.  These were mostly women, and included widows, sisters, and mothers of men who had been killed.  General Lafayette's wife, born Adrienne de Noailles, was one of the main members; her sister, mother, and grandmother were some of those in the common grave.  Her extended family was nearly wiped out during the Terror because they were very close to the monarchy.

Their graves

The following is going to be largely pictures of plaques and gravestones, with translations and a bit of commentary.  Since it's not going to interest most people I'm going to do something I never do and generally dislike, and put a page jump.

A rainy day in Paris

I went on a little outing to the American import grocery store, Thanksgiving, on Saturday, and decided to document my little walk.  It's about a 15ish minute walk, just under a mile, each way, and I have one or two pictures per minute probably.

When I woke up today there were a bunch of nice puffy white clouds in the sky..but somehow by the time I left my apartment it got entirely gray and had started to rain just a tiny bit.  I saw drops on the ground but figured it would pass quickly as it often does in the fall here.

So I started out.  Here I'm coming out of my dead end on onto the street, looking down towards the river, where I'll be headed.  You can just see one of the towers of Notre Dame.

The remnants of my neighborhood market which had ended about an hour before.

A block from the river, you can see the main part of Notre Dame behind the end of the street.  I love this little corner because to the right of the picture there is a Vietnamese produce market and restaurant, and to the left a bunch of cute pubs.

 By this time the rain had become more steady (and it was cold!) and the wind began to whip up.  I decided to keep going.  At the river now: you can see Notre Dame behind the trees, and it's just across the river.  In the foreground are the famous booksellers on the banks of the river.  A bunch weren't open because of the rain and cold - the average temperature this week is about 45, so it's our first colder weather.

I got to the bridge, and this is the view.  You're looking at Notre Dame from behind.  (Now I started to take more frequent pictures because it's very picturesque here!)

The bridge I'm about to cross, and the Right Bank in the background.  This is about 6 minutes away from my apartment.

When I go this way I generally cross this bridge, the Pont de l'Archevêché, aka the Padlock Bridge.  It's the new bridge where lovers put their locks, after the two old ones cleared them out a few years ago.

Oh look, there's me!  Self-portrait fail: it was getting too windy and cold now, my fingers were going  bit numb.

Crossed the bridge, and now on the Ile-de-la-Cite, the island where Notre Dame and the Conciegerie are. Notre Dame is on the left, and this is a good shot of the touristy kind of restaurants in this area.

I was only on that island for a moment, now I'm crossing to the other little island, Ile-St-Louis.  There is an awesome street jazz band that often plays on this bridge when it's nice out.

I was afraid my umbrella was going to blow into the Seine at this point!  You can see the waves on the river, which aren't usually there.  You'll see when I'm walking back, I crossed the bridge in the background.

One of the three main roads on Ile-St-Louis, which is mostly occupied by apartments and restaurants.

Crossing the third time, from the island to the Right Bank.

Already the Right Bank is more bustling than the Left Bank at this time on a Saturday.  I'm now in the Marais, where the store is.

 Going a bit farther into the 4th arr it becomes much quieter and more peaceful.  Mostly there are strolling families, people walking dogs, etc.  There aren't a lot of things to see in this area for tourists, although there are a lot of cool shops.  Also all the kosher stuff is closed because it's Saturday.

Just seems like a silly street name.

Taken from between the bars of the sports area at one of the larger schools in the 4th.  In the background is the back of this church.  (Photo from my post on the 4th)

I love the little streets in this area!  The American store is ahead on the right.

These streets near the river have a ton of amazing little shops that have all kinds of stuff - lots of antiques, from clothes and furniture to instruments; food shops; art and photo galleries, etc.

That's the end of my walk to the store.  I bought just a few things - red beans and rice, Jello (don't ask - I've been wanting it since I was sick a couple of weeks ago), and salt and vinegar chips.  It's always super crowded on Saturdays, especially now with people stocking up on stuff for Thanksgiving (the holiday, not this store!).

I took a slightly different path back, but didn't take too many pictures.

Here is a classic Paris bateau mouche (boat) tour on the river.  This bridge is from the Right Bank (left) to the Ile St Louis (right).

This is what all the banks of Ile-St-Louis look like.

This is the most famous ice cream shop in Paris (possibly the world?), on the island.

Now I'm on that bridge I saw while walking there, and you can see where I was, near Notre Dame.  This also shows how the two islands are situated - you can see the river going off to the right separating them, but they're very close together.

And finally here's a shot of the Tour d'Argent, one of the most well known restaurants in Paris (and also the world).  It's renowned for its duck dishes but I hear it's gone downhill in the last 20ish yeas - it now has only one Michelin star.  Parts of the adorable Pixar movie Ratatouille are set here!

So now I'm back on the Left Bank and I bid you au revoir!

Canal St Martin

While doing research for the post on the 10th arrondissement I took a walk down the Canal St Martin, one of the more interesting sites of the 10th.  I'd been to the area before but never really walked along the canal.  It's one of the more interesting spots in the city, I think, because it's not that well-known amongst tourists so on the weekends it's a chance to see real "Parisian" leisure time.  People often sit along the banks, play music, drink wine (though those last two are technically not allowed!), and hang out a bit on the weekends.  A lot of popular student bars and restaurants are here, too, so it gets lively.  There are kids' parks and playgrounds periodically along the banks as well.

I bet some of you are surprised to learn there is a big canal in Paris; it's no Venice, after all.  The Seine is well known enough for its banks, bridges, and views that it's easy to overlook the Canal St Martin.  It's completely artificial, and was started early in Napoleon's reign, around 1802.  The population of Paris had been growing considerably, and expanding outwards, and the Emperor decided there needed to be another way for the people to get fresh water into the city - especially because the periodic dysentery and cholera outbreaks seemed to be increasing.  So the canal was made to connect a smallish river, the Ourcq, to the Seine, right through the middle of Paris.  Only about half of the canal is visible (not counting the small artificial lake where it originates) because as it gets closer to the center of the city there is a road over it.

Boats still go on it, as you'll see, but I think these days it's mostly tourist (bateau-mouche) type things.

So I'm going to take you through my walk south from the Place de Stalingrad to the road that covers the canal.

The beginning of the canal isn't in the best neighborhood.

And it's a bit dirty.

But there's a nice view crossing the bridge.

And some cool graffiti

Continuing down you get to a nicer area, and you can see how close the water level is to the sidewalk, unlike the sidewalks along the Seine, where the river is much farther down.  This is one of the locks along the canal.

Water coming in through one of the locks.

I liked the colorful buildings along the curve.

Most of the footbridges along the canal are like this, iron and in the midst of trees.

More cool graffiti (not on the van, the wall!)

I was lucky enough to walk by this bridge while it was opening for a boat to come through, so I took some shots of it as it opened.

By this point I was in a student-y kind of area, with a lot of little bars, restaurants, cafes, shop, and lots of young people wandering around.  French people love to write things like "liberty" in their graffiti!

And finally a little beyond this bridge the canal is covered by this park, which is followed by a road:

The whole walk was a bit over a mile, and it's quite pleasant.  I'm glad I went over there.