"A NEIGHBORHOOD OF IMPRESSIVE APPEARANCE AND NOBLE DWELLINGS...

WHERE THE PAST SEEMS TO RISE UP AT EVERY STEP..." 

-- Le Faubourg Saint-Germain sous l'Empire et Restauration by Jules Bertaut, 1949, p.8.

• The simple dwellings and townhouses of the 17th and 18th centuries survived the urban transformation of the 1850's: Their wealthy, traditional residents backed  conservative regimes.

Except for the facades' renovation, these low houses stay the same. 

• The discretion of this avant-garde restaurant fits that of a street...

• ...where upstart "bling" is inconceivable.

In front of the river are book stalls, behind it, the Louvre;

"In aristocratic society play whist, trot out commonplaces with an air that is grave and profound and clever remarks that have been planned in advance, and you will be thought a genius," 

said Châteaubriand of that world, and most of the great minds of the time shared his boredom.

But discovering these antiquarians can give a touch of the aimable, inimitable distinction that has come down from the court.

The restaurant passed earlier

 fits that spirit.

End of this section.

*     *    *

Next section,

2.1.4.

Back to the rampart, on to the river