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Rue Saint Denis

Sentier-Cour des miracles

Paris -2nd arr-Rue Saint Denis-A street of nefarious reputation with its charms. 

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Between the porte de Turbigo and the porte Saint Denis, is the very famous RUE SAINT DENIS that always maintained a nefarious reputation since the area hosts 80% of the capital's prostitutes. Imagine that it used to be the road taken by the kings of France to Notre Dame for their coronation, as well as their route north, for burial in the St.Denis basilica. Only a few large monuments remain, like the Porte Saint-Denis. Take a good look up and down, and don't hesitate e to walk down the street, coming fro the north. From a rather fair tame area, you will see ore and more prostitutes, standing in the doorways, showing you openly their charms, but not at all aggressively (but they don't like to be photographed, watch out!), even if provocatively dressed, they look rather worn out. This red-light area gets harder and more overt the longer you walk down to the Halles area, more and more sex shops, lots of cheap eateries and interesting shops. One of the nicest places is the "Front Page", rue Saint Denis - tél: 01.40.26.26.56, offering American specialities like spare ribs and chilli, if you care for that or are home-sick, and an American style bar. You can think anything you want, but this is the pulsing heart of the area, the kingdom of "prêt à porter", where delivery trucks pass constantly, blowing their horns. Just watch for a few minutes, from the sideline, to witness that beehive activity, the excitement shaking all what's moving. With a bit of luck you might see a street "glass maker", shouting "vitriieer!!!" 
As soon the rue Saint-Denis approaches the Halles area, and being pedestrian, the variety of commerce and nightlife retain something of its former dynamism from the days this neighbourhood was entirely dedicated to the Halles food market. There are still drifters, bargain hunters, sensation seekers, local residents and young people that mix like crazy salad. Hang on to your wallet.
I suppose you all know that actress Shirley Mac Laine, perfecting her role for Billy Wilder's "Irma la Douce", spent a week here, observing the life of a Parisian prostitute, amongst the neon sex shops and massage parlours. 
A few very interesting streets are the rue Montorgeuil and rue des Petits-Carreaux, very lively, with daily street markets, old boutiques and stunning facades.
You can turn into the rue Blondel, already an ill reputed prostitution street under Charles V in the 16th century. I led you here to take a loo at the façade of no.32-34, where the famous "Belles Poules" house used to stand. You can read more about that in my chapter "Hidden and unknown Paris" on 
/Paris/ParisHtml/Paris_Hidden_Belles_Poules_New.htm
The façade was classified as "Monument Historique "in 1997, but you cannot visit the interior decoration of the great hall at the ground floor. Unfortunately. 

Bibliography

Quartier des Halles dy Moyen Age à nos jours, by H. Le Mansy (Ed.Presses Univ.1986)-Rue Saint Denis, by André Charpentier-Paris, histoire d'une ville, XIXeme et XXeme siècles, by Bernard Marchand (Ed.Du Seuil, Paris).