The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue Des Martyrs

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Authors: Elaine Sciolino

Tags: #Non-Fiction, #Travel, #History, #Biography, #Adventure

BOOK: The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue Des Martyrs
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IN MEMORY OF

GAETANO “TOM”

SCIOLINO

and

ANTHONY “TONY THE

FOOD KING” SCIOLINO

 

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
THE PERFECT STREET
SEARCHING FOR HOME
IS FISH NECESSARY?
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
WEDDING THE CROWD
NOW,
THIS
IS BUTTER!
TO CATCH A MOUSE
THE MEANING OF MARTYRDOM
SOME OF MY FAVORITE GHOSTS
THE KNIFE SHARPENER
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO PASSOVER?
THE MURDERED SCHOOLGIRLS
CHEAPER THAN A PSYCHIATRIST
IN CELEBRATION OF BOOKS
THE ARTISAN WITH THE GOLDEN TOUCH
MINISTER OF THE NIGHT
THE DIVE
THE FLYING HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY
A STREET FIT FOR A POPE
LE KALE AMÉRICAIN EST ARRIVÉ!
THE RESURRECTION OF FISH
LE POTLUCK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Please bookmark your page before following any links.

A view of the place Saint-Georges. A large bust of Paul Gavarni, a nineteenth-century neighborhood painter and caricaturist, sits at its center.

A view of the rue des Martyrs from a postcard postmarked January 4, 1906.

“The Perfect Street”: A lamppost within the gated courtyard at Nos. 41–47 rue des Martyrs.

A view of the intersection of the rue des Martyrs and rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette from an early-twentieth-century postcard.

A centuries-old print of a map of the Montmartre hill, showing the rue des Martyrs.

A Wallace fountain at the place Gustave-Toudouze near the rue des Martyrs. Since the nineteenth century, more than one hundred of these small, cast-iron sculptures have been installed as public drinking fountains, a project initiated by British philanthropist Sir Richard Wallace.

The wooden outer door at No. 18 rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette has an elaborate wrought-iron
grille
featuring lions, rabbits, birds, and mythical sea monsters.

Stone mask on the side of the Art Nouveau building at No. 39 rue des Martyrs that houses the Delmontel bakery.

A flower shop at No. 59 rue des Martyrs next to the gated entrance to the Cité Malesherbes.

A traditional sign, or “flag,” that juts out perpendicular to the facade of the Delmontel bakery. The building has housed a bakery since 1902.

Piles of butter in the cheese shop owned by Yves and Annick Chataigner at No. 3 rue des Martyrs.

Le Dream Café at No. 8 rue des Martyrs, formerly Café le Commerce, decorated with the flags of countries participating in the 2014 World Cup.

The plaque at the entrance to the crypt at No. 11 rue Yvonne-le-Tac, just off the rue des Martyrs. The crypt is believed to be the site of the beheading of Saint Denis, the patron saint of France.

A view of the rue des Martyrs that captures the way it looked in 1840. The product of many eras, the street is charming architectural chaos, a hodgepodge of styles and building materials.

In the courtyard of No. 23 rue des Martyrs, a fountain topped by a medallion with the face of Théodore Géricault, a painter who is considered the first of the Romantics and best known for
The Raft of the Medusa
.

A close-up of the Géricault medallion.

A view of the Eiffel Tower at night, perched behind apartment rooftops.

A street sign for the rue des Martyrs, which spans the Ninth and Eighteenth Arrondissements.

Being Jewish, Jean-Michel Rosenfeld was forced to wear a yellow Star of David as a child living in Paris during the Occupation. He has always carried it with him.

A view of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica from the bottom stretch of the rue des Martyrs.

The Librairie Vendredi at No. 67 rue des Martyrs is a classic Paris bookstore filled with obscure books on philosophy and poetry.

The Bibliothèque Thiers, a mansion built in 1873 on the place Saint-Georges. Named after the statesman Adolphe Thiers, who once lived there, it is now a library that houses works of nineteenth-century French history for use by scholars.

The storefront of a shop at No. 97 rue des Martyrs, owned by Laurence Gillery, an artisan who repairs and sells antique mercury barometers and gilded wooden objects.

An antique mercury barometer that hangs in the shop.

Cabaret Michou at No. 80 rue des Martyrs has been a transvestite cabaret for nearly sixty years. Michou, who is well into his eighties, is a showman, a successful self-made businessman, a philanthropist, and a beloved member of the community.

Outside Cabaret Michou, a poster-sized illustration of a big-lipped, big-haired, long-lashed, blond floozy hangs above a glass case of photographs of transvestite entertainers.

Oscar Boffy, artistic director of Cabaret Michou, performs part of his routine for the dinner crowd.

A
tabac
sign on the rue des Martyrs.

The Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Church as visible from rue Lafitte. The domes of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica up the hill in the distance hover over the neoclassical facade of the church.

Interior of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Church. Designed by Louis-Hippolyte Lebas, it was consecrated in 1836.

Interior of the crypt believed to be the site of the beheading of Saint Denis. It was also here, in 1534, that Saint Ignatius Loyola and six of his companions took their first vows before creating the Society of Jesus.

A display of fruit outside the greengrocer at No. 3 rue des Martyrs, owned by Kamel Ben Salem and his father-in-law, Abdelhamid Ben Dhaou.

Live scallops in their shells on display at the new fish store at No. 5 rue des Martyrs.

A night view of the Ferris wheel at the edge of the Tuileries Garden and of the obelisk at the place de la Concorde, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

The curving wooden staircase at No. 18 rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. The staircase and the skylight at the top are oval, not round as are others of the Charles X building era in the first half of the nineteenth century.

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