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Paris Les Halles and its history Site Home - What's New?-Feedback - About Jack-Travel/Art Links |
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Jeu de Paume-Jardins du Palais royal Place Vendome Place des Victoires Les Halles Ile
de la Cité Sainte-Chapelle Pont Neuf-Saint Germain l'Auxerrois Quai
de la Megisserie
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Paris 1st arr-Les Halles-Ancient belly of paris |
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In 1137, Louis VI decides to transfer
the market of the place de Greve to the place called Champeaux. It's the birth
of the Halles, where all professions and commerces are represented. At the end
of the 18th century, when the cimetiere des Innocents (that's another story), is
removed, it liberates a lot of space to create a vegetables market covered with
red parasols. But soon, the premises are too narrow and old, so Napoleon III
asks architect Baltard " an umbrella, nothing more!" in 1852. Baltard
built build in an extraordinary iron structured edifice. At that time the Halles had really
become the stomach of Paris. All wholesale trades in meat, fish, and vegetables
transited through this central nerve of the Parisian region. This was a city of
his own, with its traditions, cafes, restaurants, snob bourgeoisie and “
clochards”. An exceptional area, mysterious and overpopulated during market
hours. Numerous books were written about it. Remember "Irma la Douce" that used
the Halles as scenery. A great part of "Les Miserables" were located in
these premises. When you wanted the experience what the real old Paris of Emile Zola
or Victor Hugo was, you just had to come and have a "verre de vin" or
"ballon de rouge", very early morning when all the merchants and
buyers had their breakfast. But in the sixties, the Halles
couldn’t take it anymore. Too many trades, too big volumes, it was inadapted
to modern constraints. They had to move, it was a matter of death or life and it
became clear that the area was being asphyxiated and not capable anymore to feed
an expanding city as Paris. Maybe the older ones of you remember the
inextricable traffic jams caused in the whole area around the Chatelet and
impossibility to acceded even for the trucks to load or unload. Something had to
be done! So, finally it moved in 1962 to Rungis in the outskirts of Paris.Now that the "Baltard Pavilions" were empty, open to all drafts, what should become of them? Keep them, as a witness for times gone by, build little commercial centers, or cultural places etc…or demolish and realize huge real estate projects? This was the solution that was adopted. Not the best for the Parisian image, but the most "profitable" for the real estate promoters. Then they dug "THE HOLE", gaping, surrealistic, a tourist attraction for many years to come. More than 10 architects proposed simultaneously their projects. One of them even had the idea to fill it with water and dig a canal connection with the Seine so it would be transformed into a yacht harbor!!! The man had some sense of humor, I reckon. Finally after years of evasion, the building of the Forum-Blockhaus (as I call it) was accepted and executed |
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