III. VITALITY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS

 

MENU:3. VITALITY ON OTHER SIDE TRACKS

CHEAP CONSTRUCTION MAKES THE OUTSKIRTS DREARY, CHEAP RENTS MAKE THEM VITAL

          Doll by Brazil's Marcia de  Carvalho, founder of a shop that we will come to

A fête in the northern periphery's La Goutte d'Or

Outskirts and immigrants

• Europe's "Chinatown"

• Eastern Paris, where new worlds emerge

• "Barbès don't panic"

• The unhailed energies of la Goutte d'Or

*      *      *

Next,

II.2.1

Europe's "Chinatown"

III.1. EUROPE'S "CHINATOWN"

MENU: 3.1. Europe's "Chinatown"

EUROPE'S LARGEST ASIAN NEIGHBORHOOD IS ON PARIS'S SOUTHEASTERN FRINGE

(IN THE 13TH DISTRICT)

Zoom

The symbols are towers, color and and a supermarket chain 

Rue Baudricourt, which links the Asian and Gallic neighborhoods

Entry to the Tang supermarket on avenue d'Ivry, at the start of the Chinese New Year  

 Asia's European core

• A walk where cultures mix

• Colors of streets and shops

• High-rises built too soon

• Beyond the towers

• Some of the restaurants

•  Asians emerge from the shadows

*    *    *

 3.1.1.

A walk where cultures mix

III.1.1. A WALK WHERE CULTURES MIX

TWO STREETS PIERCE THROUGH THE SOUTHEASTERN FRINGE...

(AVENUES DE CHOISY AND D'IVRY)

And an area that is French and Asian.

Adapted from Mappy

Pharmacy on avenue de Choisy

Start with avenue de Choisy

• "Porte" (gate) de Choisy 

• Come to the "Arc of Fraternity"

• There and nearby, cultures intertwine

*    *    *

Next,

 3.1.2.

 "Porte" (gate) de Choisy 

3.1.1. "PORTE" (GATE) DE CHOISY

 

Follow Avenue de Choisy to the crossroad:

Adapted from a Google map

   

*    *    * 

Next,

3.1.2. 

Come to "L'Arc de la Fraternité"

COME TO "L'ARC DE LA FRATERNITÉ"

IT THANKS FRANCE FOR WELCOMING REFUGEES

(AT 72 AVENUE DE CHOISY)

Since 2014, The City has allocated 5% of its investment budget (100 million euros in 2018) to projects that citizens propose and vote for, in the fields of health, education, environment, the arts, sports... .  

La Grande Arc de la Fraternité by Georges Rousse, 2015

It comes from the neighborhood vote in 2015

Voting in front of the 13th's City Hall

Next,

There and nearby, cultures intertwine

THERE AND NEARBY, CULTURES INTERTWINE

A poster in the neighboring Gaul area suggests that some passers-by can read Chinese...

Sign next to a French bookstore on rue de Tolbiac...

Learned through the classes given next door?

 

 

     Rue Sthrau

# # # 

This street cannot be more everyday French with a pharmacy and Franprix superette on one side, or more 13th with construction and a mural on the other...

Rue Ponscarme

A Korean hairdresser appeared there in 2025.

End of this section.

*    *    *

The next section,

3.1.2.

Colors of streets and shops

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

*    *    *

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:

*    *    *

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.  

    *    *    *

Next,

The rest of the street seems ordinary at first