Itinerary
Let’s find the most unusual places from the north of the 10th district to the famous Père-Lachaise cemetery.
Get ready for the most varied experiences in only half a day. The parisian East has so much more to offer than meets the eye, and here’s a demonstration.
The first part will feature a walk along the exquisite Canal Saint-Martin, the second part’s highlight will be the most visited cemetary in the World, the Père-Lachaise. In-between, you’ll have discovered some rather unusual places, as well as the huge Place de la République – and if you don’t want to walk all the way, we will stay close to subway stations for the most part of the itinerary.
“Dark tourism” lovers will obviously be happy : apart from the Père-Lachaise, we’ll also stop near the former prisons of the Roquette, of sinister fame. Others will delight in the poetry of the Canal Saint-Martin or the quietness of the Père-Lachaise. Definitely, there will be something for all.
7 stops
1. Friends of the Railway French Society
The Association Française des Amis du Chemin de Fer (“Friends of the railway”), or AFAC, was created in 1929. At the Gare de l’Est (one of Paris railway stations), if you go to the basement through the “rampe Parking Alsace” on d’Alsace street’s side of the station, you’ll come across three spectacular rooms where the AFAC has installed railway networks models at three different scales.
Everything has been done by society members, and the models are extremely accurate. You need to be a member to operate your train models on those networks, but you don’t need to be anything in particular to just have a look, with your children of course, at this remarkable piece of work.
2. Tiniest House in Paris
You can see it on the picture. The 1.10-meter wide and 5 -meter high one-story building is obviously the tiniest house in Paris. It seems that the narrow passageway that was there before was the subject of a succession dispute that ended up being settled by the building of this most peculiar house.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, no, nobody lives in it.
3. Passage Vendôme
Located between de la République square at the North and Béranger street at the South, the passageway is 57 meter long.
It was built in 1827 on part of the former des Filles-du-Sauveur covent. Despite its elegant architecture and, at first, successful shops, it underwent a rapid decline and in only a few years time it was almost deserted.
In 1969, it was shortened by about 4 meters, so its boulevard facade and part of its glass cover consequently disappeared.
The passageway remains relatively unused today, despite its proximity with one the busiest squares of Paris. It was partially renovated at the end of 2005.
Source : translated from Wikipedia contributors, “Passage Vendôme“
4. The Bataclan
The former Ba-Ta-Clan (named after an Offenbach’s operetta), built in 1864 by architect Charles Duval and classified as historical monument, is a kind of Chinese palace’s mock-up, and as such the oldest parisian “pagoda”.
An important music-hall until the beginning of the XXth century, it was, for a time, converted to a movie theater, then destroyed by fire, then rebuild (losing its pagoda roof in the process) and finally reborn in 1983 as a concert hall that first became popular among the punk community.
Scene of the November 2015 terrorist attack, the Bataclan nowadays houses both concerts and comedy shows, a club and a bar.
5. Location of the Guillotine
Here, on each side of the street, were opened in 1830 the prisons of the Roquette (the Grande Roquette and the Petite Roquette) – they no longer exist and the Square de la Roquette now stands where the Petite Roquette used to be.
In 1851, the guillotine that was initially set up at the Place de Grève (now the Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville), then moved in 1832 to the Barrière d’Arcueil (now the location of the Saint-Jacques subway station), was brought at the entrance of the prison of the Grande Roquette. Up to 1900, 69 death sentences were carried here
There are, still today, 5 visible marks on the grounds, one per each granite slabs on which the guillotine’s footboards stood (hence the nickname “Abbaye de Cinq-Pierres” – French for “Five-Stones Abbey” – given to the location).
6. Père-Lachaise Cemetery
The cemetery takes its name from the confessor to Louis XIV, Père François de la Chaise (1624–1709), who lived in the Jesuit house rebuilt in 1682 on the site of the chapel. The property was bought by the city in 1804 when, as the graveyards of Paris filled, several new, large cemeteries, outside the precincts of the capital, replaced them : Montmartre cemetery in the north, Montparnasse cemetery in the south, Père Lachaise cemetery in the east…
The latter was opened in 1804. At the time of its opening, the cemetery was considered to be situated too far from the city and attracted few funerals. But this changed after the transfer of the remains of Jean de La Fontaine and Molière. The Père Lachaise is now the largest cemetery in the city, and is reputed to be the world’s most visited. Many tourists come from the Gambetta subway station on line 3, as it allows them to enter near the tomb of Oscar Wilde and then walk downhill to visit the rest of the cemetery.
Source : Wikipedia contributors, “Père Lachaise Cemetery“
7. Natural Garden
Very close to the Père-Lachaise cemetery, here is an atypical place : no flower arrangements here, and nearly any equipment. Created in 1995, it is a garden where plants and animals (mostly frogs and tritons in the garden’s pond) thrive freely, with little or no human intervention, apart from the initial set-up.
Chemical treatements are banned, trimming and mowing is reduced to the absolutely necessary. You’ll just find some signs telling you which species you’re observing, and a few alleys to stroll the garden.
Unusual
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