23.3.11

Rue de Charonne



(My “commenting problems” seem to have been solved, thanks to a friend.)
Rue de Charonne exists since the 17th century. It starts close to the Bastille (see previous posts), Rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine (see previous posts), and ends up close to the Père Lachaise Cemetery (see previous posts).


Walking along the street, I believe that one is especially attracted by the backyards, the alleys... This was a very industrial area with a lot of small industries and you can still find some.
This is also how you can find some green areas and some spring signs.









I deviated a little to the Saint Catherine Church, but I will revert on that in another post. In front of the church is the Square Raoul Nordling. I wanted to see it, as last week I saw an excellent (and successful) play at the Madeleine Theatre telling the story about the Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, who in August 1944 managed to persuade General von Choltitz not to destroy Paris before leaving it, despite Hitler’s orders. Orson Wells played Raoul Nordling in “Is Paris Burning?”.
A few words about some buildings along the street: There were several convents. Here you can see what remains of two, the Benedictines de Bon-Secours convent and just opposite, the smaller convent of Madeleine de Traisnel, which has figured in literature – Alexandre Dumas and also Patrick Süskind; the hero of “Perfume” spent his childhood as neighbour to the convent.
A private mansion, Hôtel de Mortagne, from 1661, is still there (although a bit hidden). Louis XVI bought it in 1783 and made it to a museum for Arts and Crafts. In 1802 the bigger museum for Arts and Crafts (Arts et Métiers) was opened at what previously was the Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs (see previous post). A big building in art nouveau style from 1910 belongs since 1926 to the Salvation Army. There are some hundreds of small apartments for women. Its’ referred to as the “Palais de la Femme”.
A special event took place in 1962 at the Charonne metro station. The Left organized a demonstration in favour of the Algerian Independence, repressed by the police. Nine people were killed when trying to take refuge in the station. 

The “Musiciens du Métro” has an address here. They organize a lot of music activities including the rehearsals to allow musicians to play in the metro. I wrote more about this in a previous post.

Finally, and what of course is important, is that you can find a number of nice bars and restaurants along the street, e.g. “L’Armagnac” and the “Bistrot du Peintre” which has kept its original 1902 art nouveau style.  

 

28 comments:

Mystica said...

Thank you as usual for not just photographs but for explanations as well.

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Am glad that your woes seem resolved!

Thanks very much for this very interesting post!

Mrs A said...

glad you are back on blogger, i will arrive in paris on 31st march for the first time, so will look out for the greeters, who knows if you are there, what a surprise that would be!

Studio at the Farm said...

Peter, as always, fascinating facts, and gorgeous photos! I feel like I just had a short [VERY short] trip to Paris.

Olivier said...

content de revoir ton blog en forme ;) Charonne, je connais assez bien j'avais une de mes anciennes amies qui vivait rue de charonne.

SusuPetal said...

Back to business. Did you get any explanation from Blogger-people?

claude said...

Bonjour Peter !
Tu parles si je la connaîs la rue de Charonne, j'y ai habité au 97 quand j'étais une toute petite fille. J'y suis retournée l'anée dernière en Jun avec Catherine et Carole. Nous avons déjeuné dans petit resto. Nous sommes entrées dans la cour du 97 et ai vu la porte d'entrée de l'immeuble où j'habitais.
J'ai revu celui de l'Armée du Salut et l'impasse Franchemont où habitait la soeur de ma Mémé qui elle, avec mon Pépé habitait dans le même immeuble que nous. J'allais à l'école de la rue St-Bernard. Que de souvenirs !!!!

Synne said...

Your attention to detail is a delight as always. Glad to see you're up and running again. Have a good one, Peter!

Nikon said...

Beautiful work.
Glad to see that you got the problem fixed.

Jeanne said...

Thanks Peter for a wonderful post. I appreciate the time you take to describe your surroundings while giving us a brief glimpse of what you are seeing on your walk. The bar displaying the art nouveau is of special interest to me and will be on my list to explore next time I visit Paris.

Christina said...

I had the most amazing time in Paris last weekend! And thanx to your blog I had plenty of ideas of lovely places to visit! And still have lots of places I want to see next time I go there. I miss Paris so much already!

Dianne said...

Bonjour Peter - I learn so much about Paris from your lovely blog-site. Love your attention to detail.

Alison said...

Reading your comments, I can see that you are providing a real service to visitors to Paris. I'll be visiting the city this summer after an absence of a dozen years, and I know that I will look at Paris differently--and in a much more informed way--since I've started reading your blog. Merci!

Louise said...

Glad to see you back on deck and posting, and giving us gifts like a glimpse of a magnolia in bloom- possibly one of the most perfect signs of spring I think.

Shammickite said...

Beautiful! AQnd I am so glad to see that the start of Spring is evident in your photographs. I'd love to explore some of those alleyways and enjoy a coffee in one of the bars along the street.

Ash said...

Very nice photos, as always. I particularly loved the first one.

Relieved to hear your bloggy-problems are solved!

Cergie said...

Ouf ! Nous nous sommes éloignés du cimetière du Père Lachaise ! Ta taphophilie pourrait nous mener à la perte !
Merci à ton ami pour son aide précieuse et avoir pris soin de toi. L’ami de mon ami est mon ami. Ceci dit que tu n’hésites pas à revenir spammer mon blog quand tu veux ça ne m’a pas dérangée au contraire, ni Hpy ni Delphinium (je parle pour elles comme pour moi).
Du coté de la rue du Fg St Antoine mon artisan ébéniste d’Epinal m’avait envoyé chercher des baguettes en laiton.
Est-ce que cette veste est à toi ? Et ce chapeau de cow-boy ?
(J’ai déjà vu cette jeune violoniste)

Cergie said...

PS : Claude oublie que j’étais aussi avec Carole et Catherine l’année dernière. Elle était avec toi le lendemain.

Starman said...

We walked down and had lunch at L’Armagnac. Just up the street is another resto we liked, L'Ingenu.

Nathalie H.D. said...

Aaaah it's so good to have you back.
You enjoy even more something you feared might be lost!
You've got visitors coming to Paris, distant admirers, a close-knit community keeping an eye on you AND a great friend who apparently solved your problem? LIFE'S GOOD !
:-)

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

This is true to your style and research, Peter... lovely photos with great detail and history.

See you soon!

Bises,
G

Thirtytwo degrees said...

Beautiful photographs from a very fascinating and historical street. I am interested now in the hotel that Louis XVI bought. It must take a long time to go from the Bastille to the cemetery but it was worth it. I enjoyed it immensely!

hpy said...

Tu as même inclus Claude François (Magnolia forever)!

joanna said...

Peter

A big thank you to your friend who assisted you. And much gratitude to the Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, otherwise what we are seeing here would not exist as such. History would have been seriously altered.

Love the walk about and the fabulous photography and history of this rich diverse area, and adore the art nouveau pub interior.
have a good week end.
Joanny

joanna said...

Yes of course, love seeing Paris bloom in the spring.

joanny

Vagabonde said...

There is much to see in rue de Charonne and you show it to us. I did not realize that your blog had been out – what a scare for you. Do you export it now on your hard drive after each post? Did Blogger every answer you?

Unknown said...

Glad to see you got your blog back and in 'good shape'! :-) Any idea as to what happened? Great post as usual, Peter!

Trotter said...

Wow!! What a fabulous post!! Furthermore on an area that is a bit off the beaten track...
Great job!!