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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2012 21:31:10 GMT
The T1 tramway line, as you might expect from its number, was the very first of the modern tramway lines to be built in the Paris metropolitan area. It opened in 1992 and was extended on the eastern end in 2003 and then again on the western end just recently in November 2012. Living in Paris, I really don't have many reasons to take it since it is out in the suburbs, but I have indeed used it about 3 or 4 times over the years for various reasons. However, I recalled from the few times that I had taken it that the route and the things to see along the fascinated me because everything was so different from Paris. So I decided that the time had come to take the tram line from one end to the other. In fact, I went there twice in two days because the first time I was on the tram and the second day I wanted to walk along the route because I had seen so many things that I wanted to get a better look at. However, I have not walked the entire length of the route yet, which is something that I am seriously considering doing, so this report will not be totally complete. I will be mixing the photos taken from the tram with the photos taken during my walk for the first part of the report. The first thing for me to do was to go to Noisy-le-Sec, which is one end of the T1 line. I had never set foot in Noisy-le-Sec, but it has been an important station for my entire life. When my family used to come to France, we would go to Metz along that line and not pay the least bit of attention to it going in that direction. But whenever we would go to Paris by train, even though the train was still barreling along at top speed, the moment we got a super brief glimpse of the Noisy-le-Sec signs, my brother and I would become totally excited because "we're almost there!" And absolutely every single time that I take a train from Metz or Strasbourg or any other place along the Gare de l'Est line to Paris, I have the same feeling when I see that station. Strangely enough, the station is no longer connected to Gare de l'Est as it was for more than 100 years. Now it is part of the RER E line that goes to Gare du Nord. So Gare du Nord is the station from which I left. Obviously, it only takes a few minutes to get there. As usual, I was at the wrong end of the train and had to walk the entire length to the exit. It is not one of the best kept stations. However, the tramway terminus was immediately visible as I exited. We would be going in this direction once the bus had crossed the tracks. No rush about that, though, according to the posted schedule. I could have even run across the street for a quick espresso. Here's the tram at last. more tomorrow
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Post by lagatta on Dec 10, 2012 3:28:15 GMT
Oh, I'm so thrilled about this! Haven't taken any of the trams so far. Tram 1 was at least partially in service the last time I was in Paris, and I know people in those "immediate suburbs", (proche banlieue), but from Paris proper it was easier to take the relevant métro lines. Are the trams full? Do they relieve Paris métro traffic? (Or perhaps they do, but the latter keeps increasing).
I confess I'm sad to see so many young Maghrebi women wearing hijab. In the years of my more extended stays in France, their mothers (who weren't mothers yet) were so keen to throw off such restrictions and show off their beautiful dark curly hair.
I love trams. It is nice to read in them.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2012 6:26:17 GMT
Are the trams full? Do they relieve Paris métro traffic? (Or perhaps they do, but the latter keeps increasing). Yes, the trams are quite full, as were the buses that covered those routes earlier, but of course the trams do a much better job. I would say that the lines are just beginning to relieve the metro a little bit as the extensions are making more useful connections to other places -- tram lines 1, 2 and 3 all inaugurated extensions in November or December of this year, and construction is well underway for lines 6, 7 and 8. There is even talk of bringing tram line 8 into Paris in the future using part of the old " petite ceinture" train lines in the 19th arrondissement.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2012 6:40:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2012 7:00:15 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Dec 10, 2012 7:33:03 GMT
Great report Kerouac - Having taken tram line T3 for my very first tram experience I rode it to the end of the line both ways. The past trip to Paris earlier this year I was delighted to take the T2 line all the way from La Defense Grande Arche to Issy Val De Seine and back and remember you telling me this was partly an old railway line. I notice in my Le Petit Parisien booklet, that T1 is marked in the circle next to La Courneuve 8 Mai 1945 (Line 7)and also Bobigny Pablo Picasso(Line 5) but unlike the other two tramlines gives no route - unless I'm blind or something....or is it because it's too far away?? I am very interested in this photo essay. I like the details you are giving us as this all helps when penciling in ideas for the next visit. Looking forward to more and more!
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Post by mossie on Dec 10, 2012 8:23:26 GMT
Very interested to hear that the Petite Ceinture lines in the 19e are being considered. There is a lot of development in the rue de l'Ourcq area which may interfere? I think the trams are excellent and use T3 for a short hop when I go to Vanves.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2012 12:57:53 GMT
There are fewer vestiges of earlier days than one would like out here, as though nothing built was worth keeping: just keep it until it falls apart in a hundred years and then build something else.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 10, 2012 14:42:43 GMT
I'm really enjoying this tram ride Kerouac! Some of it rather shocking to me....the Roma gypsy squatter camp looks far worse than the same type of set up in my city. It appears there isn't any space to walk between the rooms. Many times we get the news that most of a shanty town has been burned down somewhere near Johannesburg or Cape Town because the fire spreads incredibly fast as everything is so close and no fire engine can get anywhere near the blaze. On the other side of the gypsy coin, I am left curious as to how and where French gypsies make money to live in such luxury I have watched the series on TV about the Irish and English gypsies and all their fantastic caravans and pampering with clothes and spray tans, and can only shake my head at the huge amounts of money they spend....
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Post by mossie on Dec 10, 2012 15:00:51 GMT
Don't forget that they pay no tax. The authorities seem unable to get tabs on them, many have the same name, and they soon move on if they feel pinned down. They can make a good living out of surfacing driveways, landscape gardening and other type jobs. They are also ruthless con artists. They can be very aggressive and intimidating if questioned which keeps the authorities at bay.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2012 15:49:56 GMT
It should be pointed out that more than 60% of gypsies in Europe are now sedentary and in many cases very much assimilated. Most of them pay taxes in France now because everything is more and more computerised, and lots of them who are still travellers still settle down for three to six months at a time and hold steady jobs. Actually, this past summer there was a scourge of Irish gypsies in France and Germany according to the press -- total con artists. Of course their thick accents made them pretty easy to track down. True Roma gypsies totally reject them and say that they are not real gypsies at all. Here is a brief piece about these Irish con artists. Okay, back to the tram...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2012 17:48:11 GMT
We are still in the "red belt" of course. Back on the tram, I suddenly saw the very interesting Hôpital Avicenne. I needed a closer look, even though I have actually been there in the past and took the tram to get there. He was a Corsican friend and he died just a couple of months later. The Hôpital Avicenne opened in 1935 as the "Franco-Muslim Hospital" and was reserved for Muslim patients living in the department of the Seine (now 4 departments, being Paris and the 3 departments surrounding it). This sounds nice, doesn't it? Well, it was not nice at all, because they removed all of the Muslim patients from the other hospitals and the police took them to this place whether they wanted to go there or not. Two years after it opened, a Muslim cemetery was opened next door to it. Hospitals and cemeteries seem to go together for some reason. Anyway, it didn't stay 100% Muslim very long because it was progressively opened to other local residents as new buildings were added. It was renamed "Avicenne" in 1978. That is the French name for one of the greatest figures of the Arab world, Abu 'Ali al-Husayn Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Sina. He was an Uzbeck doctor from the 10th century, but also a musician, poet, and philosopher. His medical texts were used for hundreds of years in Europe because Arab medicine was so much more advanced. We won't get into this today, but another important thing about this hospital is that when it was expanded again at the beginning of the 21st century, the preventive archeological tests uncovered the largest Gaulish burial ground in Europe and 521 tombs from the Iron Age.
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Dec 10, 2012 20:28:59 GMT
I'd like to know more about that Gaulish burial ground. I have a friend living in Paris right now who is a grad student from the University of Chicago and her area of study is Iron Age mortuary practices. I'll have to tell her about this place.
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Post by htmb on Dec 11, 2012 4:39:47 GMT
That old, narrow hotel looks fascinating. Do you have any idea the size of the inside?
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Post by mossie on Dec 11, 2012 8:18:23 GMT
This has been a super travelogue through the banlieus and shows a different side to the city. Interesting to see that this line joins Metro line 5 at Bobigny to line 7 at Corneuve. As I always use line 5 I had wondered what Bobigny looked like. As for the gypsies, I was referring to the Irish travellers, once called tinkers because they mended pots and pans, from the noise of their Rivetting. Very often referred to as "dids" short for didicoi, which is the Romany word for foreigner.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 17:29:49 GMT
That old, narrow hotel looks fascinating. Do you have any idea the size of the inside? No idea at all. I'll bring my tape measure next time!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 17:37:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 17:53:40 GMT
There are also a lot of old industrial buildings along the way. And there is also that other way to get to Paris. Lots of the old factories have caretaker cottages. I've known people who have lived in some. Dubonnet ads on walls used to be absolutely everywhere. I recognized the painted-over logo on this former chain hotel. Generally not a good sign when a chain abandons a location. The T1 is almost always full. If my sidewalks have been mostly empty, it's because most people are on the tram! Many people would say that downtown La Courneuve has soulless Stalinist architecture. Well, that's progress, compared to slums. Frankly, I'm sure that a lot of the people are thrilled to have apartments in such buildings. La Courneuve, unlike Bobigny, has kept its old city hall. The whole right side of the street will be coming down soon -- the concrete plugs in the windows are the kiss of death. This is to keep squatters out. They tend to greatly delay demolition. Frankly, I think these buildings could have been saved. Plenty of signs to help drivers find their way in the boondocks. But this sort of sign is what really interests the majority.
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Post by htmb on Dec 11, 2012 18:04:38 GMT
That old, narrow hotel looks fascinating. Do you have any idea the size of the inside? No idea at all. I'll bring my tape measure next time! Yes, you do that! I supposed I'm interested to know how wide the rooms are on the inside and how they are configured. From the photo, which you shown in your narrow buildings thread, I looks like the building is only one room wide. I suppose I just need to come take a look at it myself. ;D This thread has me wishing I could visit this line soon.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 18:16:04 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 18:47:11 GMT
More changes coming... very eclectic sandwich selection, but 4 burgers in the same pita bun? The Buffalo? The " Cité des Cosmonautes" has always been one of the most famous neighbourhoods of this area. Here is a Roma camp definitely a step above the previous one -- plywood walls, satellite dishes for all, trash collection... And they have a good official wall for protection. Unfortunately, right across the road is a horrible Roma camp. I was only able to sneak two photos. Just wondering -- do the poor Roma steal from the 'rich' Roma? And another major cultural and economic barrier to keep everybody separate... Heading towards the center of Saint Denis now...
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 11, 2012 19:28:53 GMT
So happy to see that there will be more to come in this fascinating ride. Well, ride AND walk -- yaay!
I loved & identified with your introductory statement, about the abiding excitement over the "almost there" landmark.
You are so right about saving those buildings in La Courneuve! They're quite welcoming. The old hospital is wonderful, with its Islamic Deco style, and the history of it is most interesting.
Maybe a dumb question, but how can you tell a Roma camp from an ad hoc homeless shanty town?
Oh -- and not to derail the thread, but a quick question/suggestion: how would you feel about putting the captions between the pictures in bold face? For me, anyway, captions sort of get lost in picture-rich threads such as this. I often refer back when viewing a thread, & the bold would make it easier to find a particular picture or statement.
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Post by htmb on Dec 11, 2012 21:33:39 GMT
Some of the old buildings are lovely. I especially loved the first one in reply 19.
Too bad they can't salvage those scheduled for demolition.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 21:51:01 GMT
Maybe a dumb question, but how can you tell a Roma camp from an ad hoc homeless shanty town? The Roma are not homeless since they build shanty towns. The local homeless sleep in cardboard boxes in the middle of the city. Refugee homeless sleep around train stations and in underground car parks. The Roma are the only ones to recreate a complete community out of bits of trash -- and they don't mind being in the middle of nowhere as long as they are left alone.
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Post by htmb on Dec 11, 2012 22:05:23 GMT
But, who owns the property where they develop these shanty towns? The government?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 22:24:59 GMT
Generally, I would say that it is public land -- and if not, it is clearly unused land. Once they are living on it -- and most especially during the winter -- it becomes very difficult to evict them.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 11, 2012 23:17:32 GMT
There was a lovely African village of "mal-logés", around little place de la Réunion, a couple of decades ago. The presence of complete families was an important factor, and a lot of the breadwinners among those squatters were actually working people.
Some of those old buildings are too decrepit to salvage, but those were lovely houses in La Courneuve, and should have been preserved. Perhaps because Paris has such a wealth of architectural heritage? I love those humble buildings from a century ago, as long as they are not ruinous to restore. They set the stage for much nicer neighbourhoods.
Thanks for this effort. I'm familiar with quite a few of these towns and it is a great pleasure, though some of the changes make me sad. The historic centres of the proches banlieues should be preserved.
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ssander
member
Offline
At the Belleville Arts Open Doors in Paris in 2007
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Post by ssander on Dec 12, 2012 0:18:33 GMT
Super ride...and I am anxiously awaiting your stop at the Basilique...my favorite church in all of Paris.
SS
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Post by lola on Dec 12, 2012 3:17:18 GMT
Fascinating trip, Kerouac. How long did you walk? I was looking at a RATP map just earlier this evening and wondering about the Leningrad name. That pinko bidniz would not fly over here, I can tell you.
About the roma. Do you use the words "gypsy" and "roma" interchangably? We have essentially none here, so no one (except my late mother in law, to my knowlege) has any particular prejudices about them. We might have to ride out there so my Django Rheinhardt fan husband can check it out.
The espaliered trees along the tracks are a cool touch.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2012 6:16:54 GMT
About the roma. Do you use the words "gypsy" and "roma" interchangably? We have essentially none here, so no one (except my late mother in law, to my knowlege) has any particular prejudices about them. We might have to ride out there so my Django Rheinhardt fan husband can check it out. A lot of people use the words interchangeably, but I tend to use 'gypsy' for the local ' gitans' or ' tsiganes' or ' manouches' and Roma for the ' roms' who have arrived from foreign lands. Most of the local gitans no longer travel, so the remaining ones in those caravans are considered by most people to be picturesque although of course there remains the prejudiced idea that they might be thieves. There are two huge gatherings of gitans in France every year, which causes even a lot of the sedentary gypsies to leave their houses and apartments to attend. There is a Protestant evangelical event in Picardy on the unused former air force base in Laon-Couvron. It attracts 30,000 people and 9000 trailers in August. And of course there is the annual pilgrimage to Les Saintes Maries de la Mere in the Camargue. It attracts about 10,000 in May (formerly 40,000). Most of the gypsies don't attend this so much for the religious stuff but just to have a pleasant gathering of their often far-flung families. As for all of the 'new' Roma in western Europe, it is too soon to tell how they will evolve. They have only swept across the other countries since Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU and that was only 5 years ago. Since they lived under a lot of persecution in their home countries, they are just trying to find a new place where they might fit in -- and during these difficult economic times, it is very difficult to find a friendly welcome anywhere.
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