-XVIIIth-
My only reason to go and visit the dix-huitième arrondissement was to escape from Paris by spending a few hours on Butte Montmartre, the place where the Sacré-Coeur church had been built. I was fascinated by the history of this special place. I had learned about the tragedy of La Commune de Paris (34) but above all, I was simply in love with the “Commune Libre de Montmartre”, a place for artists, a place for dreamers, a place for people looking for authentic freedom. I Loved to get there walking from the “Abbesses” metro station on line number twelve. There was no interest at all in strolling on place du Tertre…the real Montmartre was in the little streets, close to the vineyards, rue Saint-Vincent, rue de l’Abreuvoir, rue Norvins, rue Lepic. Tourists wanted to see the big white church, I wanted to spend time in the silence of the “other” Montmartre, far away from the noise, far away from the Chinese groups, the Japanese masses, the German herds, the Spanish cliques, the Swedish clusters…
Going to a “sacred” place? My choice was always the same: the small authentic church of Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre dating back to the twelfth century, when Montmartre was nothing else than just a village a mile away from Paris, may be?
On the parvis du Sacré-Coeur, visitors were taking pictures. Once back home, they would probably comment their trip…
…Here I am in front of Sacré-Coeur
…Here Sacré-Coeur is behind me
…on this one I am on the Butte Montmartre watching Paris…
…on that one I am…….
My thought would go towards the abbess of Montmartre, Marie de Beauvilliers, one of Henri IV numerous mistresses…I always liked it when religion and love stories mixed together, lovers probably felt like they were blessed by God himself…
Metro line number two connecting Porte Dauphine with Place de la Nation, ran along boulevard de Rochechouart, as an elevated railroad.
Going westward, on the right of the track was the dix-huitième arrondissement while on the left side was the neuvième. The metro line was the limit between the two arrondissements.
During the “glorious thirties” (35) when riding on a train on line number two, one could see on the right side, day or night, a long queue of people waiting in front of a house on rue de Chartres. Although brothels operation had been shutdown following the “Marthe Richard Law” of April thirteen, nineteen forty-six (ref 46-685) there were some places in the area along Barbes, accommodating the needs of a migrant working population living in France since the end of the Algerian war in 1962. No politician wanted to admit it, but the line of people was there seven days a week and along the clock. Factories in the Paris suburbs produced all kind of industrial wealth, starting with cars, and the users of the “rue de Chartres” facilities were in very large numbers.
In these days, anyone walking through the Barbès area had one foot in Mali, the other foot in North Africa. Rue de la Goutte d’Or, there were shops selling all kind of African clothing, spices, drinks, tea leaves, telephone cards to be used when calling countries in the Maghreb… Ethnic diversity was the main characteristics of this “Arabo-African” quartier in Paris. In small café, aging folks born in Algeria, Tunisia or Morocco, shared a game of Dominoes whilst crooks proposed three-cards-monte to unsuspicious out of town visitors.
For railroad lovers, not far away, was the Marcadet bridge, overflying the tracks out of Gare du Nord. One could watch trains leaving Paris, en route to Belgium, Holland, or Germany. At 106 boulevard de la Chapelle, long time ago was a “Maison de Société”, another typical French word to designate a bordello. It must have been a “decent place” but men or women having been users of this “Maison” had all died long ago and the “106” was now just a building like any other buildings in the area. To the north of the dix-huitième, just behind the ring road was “le marché aux puces”, Paris flea market, including five different areas each having its own specialties or interests: antique furniture, militaria, guns and bronzes, electrical appliances, clothing, uniforms…
In the evening and during the nights, east European pimps coming from Ukraine, Albania, or Russia would offer young blond girls to truck drivers going north or south at a “reasonable priced. No one knew exactly what the “reasonable price” was…. I guess it depended on what the truck drivers could afford…
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