II.4.4.h. THE NEIGHBORHOOD KEEPS ITS SOUL

MENU: 2.4.4.h. The neighborhood keeps its soul

ESTABLISHMENTS LIKE THESE TAKE YOU STRAIGHT INTO AFRICA

Bar, Senegalese flag, soccer players and television showing news from home, as you enter the neighborhood:

Thiéy Ndakarou 2

        10 rue des Gardes

 Cantine since the 1940's, more below

Hand-made African fashion 

Among the many

small, personal businesses...

• Madame Touré's fashion

• The Catholic fabrics of a "child of God"

• Hassan Arezki's canteen

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Next,

Madame Touré's fashion

MADAME TOURÉ'S FASHION

ABIDJAN'S MADAME TOURÉ CREATES HER WARES IN A TINY

STORE AND WORKSHOP

She chats with a friend who drops in as for a salon. Small as it is, the shop is as convivial as the beauty parlors and like an Asian computer store in the 13th (please scroll down), money is not the only goal.

The client on the left observes as Madame Touré makes her headdress. The workshop is behind the man on the right.

The name is that of the record store that used to occupy the site. 

Pala Pala Music 

35 rue Myrha

 

"Usually clothing in this spirit is sold 

as mass production on the web.

Here we imagine it ourselves and make it by hand."

-- Madame Touré

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Next,

The Catholic fabrics of "a child of God"

THE CATHOLIC FABRICS OF A "CHILD OF GOD"

A STORE FOR NOTIONS LEADS TO CATHOLIC INVENTIVITY AND

A MAJOR RELIC 

Having lunch at this restaurant... 

Across the street from the Paris 360 Music Factory (more later)

I noticed the unusual announcements across the street...

La Grande Mercerie de Château Rouge

     31 bis rue Myrha 

"Students, 50 % reduction on your alterations;" "Religious cloths..." and remembered that I had to replace a snap.

# # #

"You can't sew it by hand. Let Pierre replace it," said the lady who greeted me. Later I learned that this was a family enterprise. The distinguished man behind the counter was her husband and the young man her son:

Snaps of different colors. Few stores bother with such minimal mending (one euro), still less in different colors. 

While waiting I noticed Christian images, surprising in that Muslim neighborhood which led to talking to the Cameroonian owner, Marie-Isabel Djob* Ngena-Nkondo.

*"Child of God"

Going toward Saint-Bernard-de-la-Chapelle church

She said that she had been the cantor at the Saint Denys Basilica* 

which shelters the tunic Jesus wore on his way to Calvary**

*In Argenteuil, a commune north of Paris, site of an important medieval abbey. 

* *For its story, The Seamless Robe of Jesus, Wikipedia; for a more complete account, this article in French:

Summary

The weaving is that of the 5th or 6th century, but may be older: Lack of examples prevents comparaison. But the tears in the tunic correspond to carrying a heavy object on the shoulders and DNA tests show the same blood group as that on the two other relics believed to be of Jesus.

In 2016, its exceptional display drew at least 200,000 pilgrims :

Both images, the Basilica web site 

Left, Charlemagne brings the tunic to his daughter, the abbess of  Argenteuil;

Right, the tunic as shown in 2016.

Argenteuil: The Display of the Sainted Tunic of Christ / KTOTV YouTube (in French)

She had this and other Catholic prints made in the Ivory Coast:

The fleur de lys, symbol of the French monarchy, evokes the tie between Catholicism and France. 

Displaying these prints shows the tolerance of this largely Muslim neighborhood. 

Protestant, I knew nothing of the relic. It took this store to almost miraculously uncover an important part of Catholicism and so of the Western past. 

# # #

Immigrants work: 

Marie-Isabel may sleep in the store. 

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Next,

Hassan Azeki's canteen

HASSAN AREZKI'S CANTEEN

ALGERIAN COOKING THAT IS (ALMOST) FRENCH IN A CANTEEN FOUNDED IN 1947

 -- "Why is a restaurant that seems so typically French in fact Algerian?"

-- "Because the work is extremely hard and because a 'Gaul' 

would not understand the neighborhood. But I grew up here."

Planks separate the terrace from the street with no prettying-up. Neighbors have come for three generations.

Les Trois Frères

(The Three Brothers)

 14 rue Léon

Monsieur Arezki, founder, and son Hassan

Chef and patron

# # #

At night the bar is so packed that people buy a glass and converse in the street.

"You have a good evening, you drink, you smoke, you laugh... you don't sleep...
BUT THE NEIGHBORS DO!"

When closed.

At lunch people do not linger,
so you won't need a reservation.

But in the evening the bar is packed from 8 pm

 and the restaurant soon after:

So reserve.

 01 42 64 91 73

End of this section.

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Next section,

2.3.5.j.,

Suddenly visible Blacks