VII. A PAST THAT IS FORGOTTEN YET INDELIBLE

MENU: 7. A past forgotten yet indelible

"SOCIAL SERVICES ARE THE RICHES OF THE POOR," SAYS THE MAYOR OF THE 13TH, A COMMUNARD STRONGHOLD 

Adapted from a Google plan 

A Fight during La Commune, 1871, zoom

A stroll uncovers the imprint of the proletarian past from which they stem.

          Photo by Eugène Adjet, 1925 / zoom

N° 204 rue du Château des Rentiers, the street by which Communards dispersed after the last battle, which we follow.

At n° 120 of the same street, the caretaker of a City-run establishment for seniors chats with a resident. 

• A district that leans left

• A walk in an outskirt that used to be chilling

• In the footsteps of "demons"

• Small businesses that Communards would value

• Parks and paintings

• A creativity that everyone likes

• The obscure 13th, a place to pitch your tent?

• More gifts from City Hall

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Next,

 IV.4.3.a. 

A district that leans left

A DISTRICT THAT LEANS LEFT

 

STRIKERS DEMONSTRATE AT PLACE D'ITALIE

(MAY 2024)

The ambiance favors them. I have never seen right-wing posters in the 13th, but there are many from the left. Some of them: 

Probably 2022, in the space leading to the series of parks on the site of the former Say sugar refinery

"For public services against the Europe of money"

                                                      Before the legislative elections of June 2024 on the parc de Choisy railing 

"Where do you think you're going if you go right?"

 

On the obscure corner of rue Sthrau and rue Nationale

"Racists vote. And you?"  "Where are you on June 9?" (The day of the European elections) "The rich vote. And you?"

Corner, rue de Tolbiac and rue Nationale, April 2024

"The Dignity of Work" / "Movement of Communist Youth of France" / "Solidarity with Palestine"

More Communist posters (the party is very different from that of the Cold War)

Corner  rue de Tolbiac / rue du Château des Rentiers, June 2024

"Against fascism!" / The force to change it all!" (France Unbowed) / "Animal reign"

Place d'Italie, January 2025

Left: Join the Communist revolution / Middle: Health school transport research justice culture finance leisure information: Public Service Forum  / Right : Billionaires will not defeat us 

Railing of parc de Choisy, February 2025

"To change it all, Popular Front" (a coalition of left-wing parties inspired by that of 1936) 

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Next,

IV.4.3.b.

A walk in an outskirt that used to be chilling

A WALK THROUGH AN OUTSKIRT THAT USED TO BE CHILLING

"FEW PARISIANS ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE BUTTE-AUX-CAILLES..." 

The Bièvre river

"At last she was out of the horrible cave!...

She found herself in an abandoned cabin, and the icy wind blew through its decrepit walls. A moment later she was outside, in a wasteland that sloped steeply toward the valley of the Bièvre.

The opaque black, the black of an underground tomb, was gone. Far away street lights glimmered. She was free! ...

She had one thought only: get away from the bandits... " 

-- The Caporal by Lucien Victor-Meunier, 1909, shortened. For more extracts, please click. (In French)

A map of 1900 puts the present in perspective.

      Map of about 1900 / zoom

Quarries (please click and scroll down) protected the small houses by preventing heavy construction, and little has changed.

# # #

On a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday morning, start at the market next to place d'Italie:

Stroll up the slope.

(On rue des Cinq-Diamants)

Imagine the residents knowing from the smoke, cries and firing

that the Versaillais soldiers are about to arrive. They climb up passage Barrault below...

The arrow is yellow because it shows a location, here the enemy's path. Red arrows show our own path. 

Pass the seat of Les Amis de la Commune de Paris* with its mosaic of the rebels' famous general... 

*Friends of the Commune of Paris

Then at a grocery turn right to place de la Commune and its

street art:

Rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles

Place de la Commune

Turn back along the street of restaurants, cafés and very few cars...

The restaurant Le Temps des Cérises, named after a famous song that recalls La Commune

When you come to a playground...

 Paul Verlaine park

"Book nest: take one and put another in its place." 

Turn back to the crossroad. Look at the street you recently strolled up... 

Rue des Cinq Diamants seen from the crossroad.

Turn-of-the-19th-century postcard  

The towers will seem like science fiction 

and you will be sorry to leave this peaceful haven.

End of this section.

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Next section,

VI.4.

 A past that is forgotten yet indelible

VII.2. IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF "DEMONS"

 

THE NEXT WALK STARTS AT THE CHURCH WHERE THE COMMUNARDS FOUGHT THEIR LAST BATTLE, THEN FOLLOWS THE ROUTES WHERE THE SURVIVORS FLED

Built toward 1860 in anticipation of another insurrection, the space large enough to hold soldiers, horses and cannons must be the site "west" of the jail where Sérizier and his men left the monks and went on to pursue the fight.  

-- "West:" Gérard Conte, Elements of the History of La Commune in the 13th Arrondissement, 1981,

   study based on archival records.

The space around Notre-Dame de la Gare

Toward 5 p.m., the battle lost, the Communards faded into their neighborhood and Sérizier, who was too well-known to go home,

took refuge in a house on a neighboring street. 

* Rue du Chateau des Rentiers fits the information in the study just mentioned.

    Discover the territory

 through which the Communards fled.

Adapted from a map of about 1900 / zoom

We follow their path

• The passage by which survivors fled 
• City-run residences for the elderly or handicapped
• Sculptures. Bikes. Gyms. Gardens
• More social services, gardens and neighborhood engagement
• Election posters that show a real democracy
• 
  

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Next,

The passage by which survivors fled

THE PASSAGE BY WHICH SURVIVORS FLED

A SCULPTURE AND TREES SOFTEN THE ARIDITY OF LOW-COST CONSTRUCTION

Place Souham

A medical laboratory is on one side of the passage and a medical center is a few steps away...

It ends with a mosaic of the area's métro map...

A father points his tennis racket as he explains it to his son.

And with this cheerful café across the street.

Le Père Fecto, 15 rue Jean Coly

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Next,

City-run residences for the elderly or handicapped

CITY-RUN RESIDENCES FOR SENIORS OR HANDICAPPED

THERE ARE FOUR, WITH THREE OTHERS NEARBY 

(AT RUE DU CHÂTEAU DES RENTIERS)

During the heat wave of 2020 the City distributed electric fans and bottles of water. During covid the caretaker disinfected floors and door handles three times a day and placed an antiseptic solution and paper towels in the entry. The City distributed masks with filters.  

Posters at the entry :

 

Accompaniment for seniors who fear withdrawing cash from ATM machines (the service is free and tips are forbidden) / Excursions outside Paris, the fee based on income.

  

Free activities for residents include workshops 

in crafts and writing, yoga, a chorale, theater and dance

and visits with a lecturer to the Musée d'Orsay.

# # #

The mayor comes for the Christmas apéritif. The caretaker is to his right. Members of his team surround them. 

Jérôme Coumet, the mayor, gave a short talk 

to tell residents what City Hall

had done in the past year and what it planned for the future.

He also gave everyone a box of excellent chocolats

and spoke personally to whoever came up to him.

The caretaker takes groceries up five flights of stairs for the elderly residents when the elevator is stalled and the muscular young men hired to help at certain hours are not present. 

When a person in the neighboring building committed suicide by throwing himself out of a window in sight of some of the residents, she had City Hall send two psychiatrists to meet with them. She thought particularly of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees, for whom the tragedy might evoke terrible memories. For those who did not speak French well, the psychiatrists proposed interpreters. 

"The residents are like my family,"

 she said with tears in her eyes 

when an aged man died.

 

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Next,

A crossroad with sculptures and bikes

SCULPTURES. BIKES. GYMS. GARDENS

SCULPTURES

     The Mystery of the Body, bronze, by Léonardo Delfino, 1980

Place Nationale will be vegetalized.

The facade changes with the light

City-sponsored bikes occupy the space in front of the huge sculpture. 

Then come a swimming pool, which is free for seniors with modest revenues, and a gym. Behind the white building is another swimming pool and another gym, and a foyer for African immigrants.  

For the little trees and gardens,

 please continue.

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Next,

More social services, gardens and local engagement