Fri, 10 February 2012
| Index | Last | Var.(%) |
|---|---|---|
| BEL 20 | 2228.5 | -1.86 |
| DAX | 6660.4 | -1.89 |
| IBEX 30 | 8753.6 | -1.67 |
| CAC 40 | 3366.62 | -1.70 |
| FTSE 100 | 5843.07 | -0.89 |
| AEX | 319.85 | -1.62 |
| DJIA | 12890.46 | 0.05 |
| Nasdaq | 2927.23 | 0.39 |
| FTSE MIB | 16359.61 | -1.77 |
| TSX Composite | 12497.94 | -0.18 |
| ASX | 4322.6 | -0.79 |
| Hang seng | 20783.86 | -1.08 |
| Straits Times | 2960 | -0.71 |
| ISEQ 20 | 501.48 | -0.44 |
Text size
Expatica France is pleased to offer a historical and cultural tour of Paris from City of Light expert Thirza Vallois. We continue our tour in the nineteenth arrondissement, to revisit the decadent past of La Villette.Before 1986, when the site of the main slaughterhouse and the premises of the livestock market of Paris were metamorphosed into, respectively, a science museum and a multipurpose entertainment hall, as part of the new 35-hectare Parc de la Villette, the only reason for a bourgeois from western Paris to come all the way to these remote infamous parts of north-eastern Paris was the prospect of a gastronomic meal at Le Cochon d'Or, Au Boeuf Couronné or Dagorno on Avenue Jean Jaurès. Such establishments took pride in the quality of their meat, freshly supplied from the slaugherhouse of La Villette, on the other side of the canal, which they served in copious chunks.
Even the headquarters of the Pompes Funèbres were set up in the 19th arrondissement, at 104 rue d'Aubervilliers, on the site of the early municipal slaughterhouse as it happened. The rag warehouses too were set up here, debouching the clothing waste of the capital to the ragpickers who operated in the 'zone' — the slum belt of Paris, now the stretch between the Boulevards des Maréchaux and the Boulevard Périphérique — and were referred to as 'zonards'. Also near by, but beyond the diners' attention, were sugar refineries and gasworks which belched their noisome fumes into a steel-tainted sky hanging heavy above. 
This was the best case scenario. Often one resorted to crime in this Dickensian wasteland. The victims were often the neighbourhood's young females whom the men would round up and offer as game to their fellow men. The brutality and callousness of these pimps was notorious and once caught in their noose, the girls had little hope of escape: those who put up a resistance could be stubbed, and other working women were also vulnerable when loaded with their scanty weekly wage. Violence thrived among the butchers too, notoriously hot-tempered, and fights between trigger-happy pimps and butchers, knife at the ready, were not uncommon. Who knows how many victims ended up in the oozing waters of the Bassin de La Villette, now a place of water sports and festivities? As many as seven criminals from La Villette were sentenced to death between 1872 and 1900.
This is an excerpt from Thirza Vallois's Around and About Paris series (volume 3 - New Horizons: Haussmann's Annexation). Around and About Paris (volume 1, 2 and 3) is published by Iliad Books, UK
For more information, and to order Thirza Vallois's titles, go to Link: www.thirzavallois.com
(expatica June 2008)
This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes information on business hierarchy, negotiations, and etiquette.
A listing of organizations in the Paris area that cater primarily to Americans living in France. Updated April 2011.
Our handy guide to the British community in Paris, from cricket clubs to Scottish country dancing lessons to where to find a jar of Marmite.
Here's a short introduction to our Banking section for those living in France, from how to open a bank account to Islamic banking and investments.
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
Flickr
0
