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to Hidden, unknown Paris
If you want to feel the
ambience of Middle Age Paris, check the PASSAGE SAINTE-FOY.
It is very rare that in front of 263, rue Saint-Denis, two ”women of ill
repute” like the prostitutes were named in the Middle ages, don’t stand
spotting possible clients. The better for those who want to pass through the
passage Sainte-Foy to the other side of the Charles V wall that protected Paris
from the 14th to the 17th century. The more you progress
in the passage, the more you have the impression that the walls are approaching,
that the passage is narrowing. You cross a small courtyard, you pass along
houses of which one has a suspended staircase. Then, suddenly, you have to climb
13 steep steps. One above you are finally at rue Sainte Foy no.14, called rue du
Rempart in ancient times. Go a few metres to the right and then take the rue
Chenier to the left leading you to rue d’Aboukir and rue de Cléry, the heart
of the “Sentier”, garment district of Paris. This is extra-muros, since the
difference of level brought you to the patrol path on the ancient wall, once
guarded by sentinels. Rue Saint-Denis would be intra-muros of course. The
passage Sainte-Foy is about 80 m long.
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