IV.4.3. A PAST THAT IS FORGOTTEN YET INDELIBLE

MENU: A past forgotten yet indelible

"SOCIAL SERVICES ARE THE RICHES OF THE POOR," SAYS THE MAYOR OF THE 13TH, AND THERE THEY ARE EXCEPTIONAL

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

A Fight during La Commune, 1871, zoom

The area, a Commune stronghold 

     N° 204 rue du Château des Rentiers by Eugène Adjet, 1925 / zoom

The street by which Communards dispersed after the last battle, which we follow.

At n° 120 of the same street

the caretaker of an establishment that City Hall runs for seniors and a resident. "What I appreciate most here is the proximity of medical services," the elderly gentleman has said.

  

Adapted from a Google plan 

A Communard bastion

• A district that leans left

• A walk in an outskirt that used to be chilling

• In the footsteps of "demons"

• 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

IV.4.3.a. A DISTRICT THAT LEANS LEFT

 

STRIKERS DEMONSTRATE AT PLACE D'ITALIE

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

"Where do you think you're going if you go right?" For exhibits of humanist images on these park railings, please click. 

"For public services against the Europe of money"

 

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

"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)

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

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IV.4.3.b.

A walk in an outskirt that used to be chilling

IV.4.3.b. A WALK IN 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.

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Next,

 IV.4.3.c.

 In the footsteps of "demons"

IV.4.3.c. 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 next to the church
• Residences for the elderly or handicapped
• A crossroad with sculptures and bikes
• More social services, gardens and neighborhood engagement
• Election posters that show a real democracy

• Detour: small businesses Communards would have appreciated

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Next,

The passage next to the church

THE PASSAGE NEXT TO THE CHURCH

SÉRIZIER AND HIS MEN FLED BY A PATH WHERE NOW A SCULPTURE NESTLES

Place Souham

That work and trees soften the aridity of low-cost construction:

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,

A street of City-run residences

RESIDENCES FOR THE ELDERLY OR HANDICAPPED

THERE ARE FOUR, WITH THREE OTHERS NEARBY 

(AT RUE DU CHÂTEAU DES RENTIERS)

They are City-managed.

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, gives a short speech 

in which he tells the residents what City Hall

has done in the past year and what it plans in the future.

He also gives everyone a box of chocolats

and speaks personally to whomever comes 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 elderly residents. 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

A CROSSROAD WITH SCULPTURES AND BIKES

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 a swimming pool, 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 young trees and little gardens,

 please read on.

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Next,

More social services, gardens and local engagement