I think I might have gone a little too far the other day in describing how much the Paris neighborhood where I lived nearly 40 years ago has changed through gentrification. Going back through the photos I took there in 2006 and have been posting for a while now, I see that the rue Montorgueil is still a real neighborhood, with pharmacies, bakeries, butcher shops, pharmacies, produce stands, and even small supermarkets.
Montorgueil would probably still be a good place to live, if you could afford to rent or buy a decent-sized apartment nearby, and it you didn't have a dog to walk every day. Paris prices are very high, and it's easy to spend a lot of money there because there are so many temptations — restaurants of all kinds, cafés, theaters, concerts.... Those are amenities we don't have easy access to here in Saint-Aignan. Here are a few more photos that I took on the rue Montorgueil in 2006.
I wonder what an apartment in a building like this would cost.
It has turned cold here, and the weather services keep predicting that we might get some snow
here in Saint-Aignan by next weekend. That would be kind of nice, actually.
here in Saint-Aignan by next weekend. That would be kind of nice, actually.
La rue Montorgueil est certainement une rue très commerçante. L'équivalent de la rue Cler?
ReplyDeleteLa rue Cler se trouve dans ce qu'on appelle les beaux quartiers. Donc elle est plutôt bourgeoise, ou bon chic bon genre (BCBG). La rue Montorgueil est plutôt populaire, "gritty", ou "working class". Commerçante, oui, mais très différente de la rue Cler, point de vue clientèle.
DeleteBy the way, we did get a dusting of snow this morning.
Is that Walt up there, under the umbrella?
ReplyDeleteKen, do you know why 1991 is written in the cobblestones?
Yes, that is Walt under the black umbrella. I meant to point that out...
DeleteI think the rue Montorgueil was closed to car traffic and "pedestrianized" in 1991. The neighborhood was transformed.
C'est un palindrome!
DeleteGlad you got some snow! The white mosaic sidewalk is so pretty. I will miss rue Montorgueil when you move on to another topic.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of that swirling tile mosaic too.
DeleteI was thinking too that that looked like Walt with the umbrella. Great pictures, Ken. Rick Steves promoted rue Cler so much that now it’s filled with Americans.
ReplyDeleteThat's true about the rue Cler.
DeleteGiven the extraordinary amount of dog shit around there in the mornings, dog ownership is quite high. The front of St Eustache was the defacto off-leash play area when I was there in 2006 with Bondi.
ReplyDeleteCrottes de chien have always been a nuisance in most Paris neighborhoods. The situation used to be a lot worse back in the 1970s and '80s.
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