III.1.2. COLORS OF STREETS AND SHOPS

THE WALK CONTINUES. COLOR IS EVEN MORE PRONOUNCED

Stores on avenue d'Ivry

In brief

• The other artery (avenue d'Ivry)

• A cluster of shops at the crossroad

• The rest of the street seems ordinary at first

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Next,

The other artery (avenue d'Ivry)

THE OTHER ARTERY (AVENUE D'IVRY)

WHEN YOU REACH THE CROSSROAD, TURN AROUND AND STROLL UP AVENUE D'IVRY

Adapted from a Mappy map

The 200 fountains that have become symbols of turn-of the 19th-century Paris are green...

Fountain 10 minutes away.

Except at the Olympiades' entry on avenue d'Ivry.

# # #

Color is everywhere:

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Next,

A cluster of shops at the crossroad

A CLUSTER OF SHOPS AT THE CROSSROAD

ON AVENUE D'IVRY YOU COME TO THIS JUNCTION

Take rue de Tolbiac: back to Avenue de Choisy later 

 

To its left:

Soleil d'Asie

130 rue de Tolbiac

To its right:

The shops mentioned below are behind the red car.

• A tiny shop chock-full of Vietnamese wares, present since 1987

Shanghai

      120 rue de Tolbiac

 

The second vest I bought there.

Monsieur Kang may tell about the civilization that produced these wares. 

For example : "Arms are a witness of the past and technical skill and are marked by beliefs and dreams."

• Next door, a humble facade and splendid tableware from Japan

China art 

      120 rue de Tolbiac

• Then a skin care salon, for whose excellent services one must often reserve a week in advance (since 2020).

Makina Beauté Paris

118 rue de Tolbiac

It had been a place for money transfers to Asia, often in cash from the neighboring restaurants. When an inspector asked to see the receipts, the owner left. Yue and Guillaume Guillet bought the site : "We worked in an office... 

# # #

 

A vendor in an Asian shop of the neighborhood:  

He checked each piece of a tea service that was on sale for 11€. And a colleague kept an article I had bought for 1€ when I returned several months later.  

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Next,

The rest of the street seems ordinary at first

THE REST OF THE STREET SEEMS ORDINARY AT FIRST

ON RUE DE TOLBIAC BEYOND THE CROSSROAD, BUILDINGS ARE BANAL AND ANIMATION ABSENT 

But soon you pass what sets the neighborhood apart:

• A wall that street art covers leads to a space to play...

• ...beyond it, a City-run center for youth...

• Then, an escalator:

    View from the top:

To be continued.

# # #

At the bus and métro stop, vendors from Bangladesh sold exotic fruit and vegetables...

A vendor under the snow.

Until the police forbade them (in 2022).

I miss the affordable avocados, mangoes and herbs,

and the smiles of courage and good humor.

# # #

Added in August 2025: 

Vendors are back!

But a month later they had left. 

End of this section.

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The next section,

3.1.3.

High-rises built too soon