old paris

with 59 illustrations

Look into every courtyard in the ancient quarters, look attentively at every dwelling along the old winding streets, and fail not to look up to their roofs. The roofs are never alike. They are strikingly picturesque. Old builders did not work mechanically, did not raise streets in machine-like style, each structure exactly like its neighbour, one street barely distinguishable from the street running parallel or crossing it, according to the habit of to-day. The builders of les jours d'antan loved their craft; every single house gave scope for some artistic trait. The roofs offered a fine field for architectural ingenuity: wonderfully planned windows, chimneys, balconies, gables are to be seen on the roofs often in most unexpected corners, in every part of the Vieux Paris. Look up!—I cannot urge this too strongly. And within every old hotel —the French term for private house or mansion—examine each staircase. In the erection of a staircase the architect of past ages found grand scope for graceful lines, and exquisite workmanship. Thus walks even through the dimmest corners of la Ville Lumière will be for lovers of old-time vestiges a joy for ever.  

I. THREE PALACES
II. AMONG OLD STREETS
III. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE GREAT MARKETS
IV. THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE
V. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE
VI. ROUND ABOUT THE ARTS ET MÉTIERS (THE ARTS AND CRAFTS INSTITUTION)
VII. THE TEMPLE
VIII. THE HOME OF MADAME DE SÉVIGNÉ
IX. NÔTRE-DAME
X. L'ÎLE ST-LOUIS
XI. L'HÔTEL DE VILLE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
XII. THE OLD QUARTIER ST-POL
XIII. LA PLACE DES VOSGES
XIV. THE BASTILLE
XV. IN THE VICINITY OF TWO ANCIENT CHURCHES
XVI. IN THE REGION OF THE SCHOOLS
XVII. LA MONTAGNE STE-GENEVIEVE
XVIII. IN THE VALLEY OF THE BIEVRE
XIX. RUE ST-JACQUES
XX. LE JARDIN DES PLANTES
XXI. THE LUXEMBOURG
XXII. LES CARMES
XXIII. ON ANCIENT ABBEY GROUND
XXIV. IN THE VICINITY OF PLACE ST-MICHEL
XXV. L'ODÉON
XXVI. ROUND ABOUT THE CARREFOUR DE LA CROIX-ROUGE
XXVII. HÔTEL DES INVALIDES
XXVIII. OLD-TIME MANSIONS OF THE RIVE GAUCHE
XXIX. ANCIENT STREETS OF THE FAUBOURG SAINT-GERMAIN
XXX. THE MADELEINE AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD
XXXI. LES CHAMPS-ELYSÉES
XXXII. FAUBOURG ST-HONORE
XXXIII. PARC MONCEAU
XXXIV. IN THE VICINITY OF THE OPERA
XXXV. ON THE WAY TO MONTMARTRE
XXXVI. ON THE SLOPES OF THE BUTTE
XXXVII. THREE ANCIENT FAUBOURGS
XXXVIII. IN THE PARIS "EAST END"
XXXIX. ON TRAGIC GROUND
XL. LES GOBELINS
XLI. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PORT-ROYAL
XLII. IN THE SOUTH-WEST
XLIII. IN NEWER PARIS
XLIV. TOWARDS THE WESTERN BOUNDARY
XLV. LES TERNES
XLVI. ON THE BUTTE
XLVII. AMONG THE COALYARDS AND THE MEAT-MARKETS
XLVIII. PERE-LACHAISE
XLIX. BOULEVARDS—QUAYS—BRIDGES
L. LES BOULEVARDS EXTÉRIEURS
LI. THE QUAYS
LII. LES PONTS (The Bridges)

Text: Jetta S. Wolff, Historic Paris