Paris streets: rue du Faubourg St. Denis (75010) (by K2)

[Deleted]

Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis is a section of one of the most important streets not only in Paris, but in France. It is part of the royal road from Ile de la Cité to the Basilica of Saint Denis, taken by all of the kings for their official entrance into Paris. It is older than the kings of France, though, because the road was created by the Romans in the 1st century.

Luckily, the street was not remodeled by Baron Haussmann. It's a bit crooked and the buildings are very mixed (including some Haussmannian style buildings). Haussmann was doing his stuff just one block east on Boulevards de Sébastopol and Strasbourg, which are wide, elegant and straight as an arrow, also coming from the Seine but going directly to Gare de l'Est, which was the wave of the future at the time and more useful than an old basilica.

In this day and age, the old street changes names several times along the way, making it easier for people to know where they are going. It is called rue Saint Denis starting from the Seine, because this is the part that has been part of Paris for centuries. However, where it enters the 10th arrondissement is the location of the old walls of the city. The big medieval fortifications had already been pulled down when the Porte Saint Denis was built in 1672. North of the arch was still the suburbs -- the faux-bourg as opposed to the bourg. Basically, there was a system of toll booths for entering the city. It changes names twice more before reaching the current city limits: rue Marx Dormoy and rue de la Chapelle (it all used to be rue de la Chapelle in that section, but they needed to commemorate a lot of the heroic dead after WW2, so lots of sections of streets were renamed).

At the beginning of the Faubourg Saint Denis you can stop for a drink on the left or get the protection of a saint on the right, maybe both.

There used to be a grand old café a block over (on the corner of boulevard de Strasbourg) called "La Porte Saint Denis" but it, uh, changed name a few years ago.

People have remarkably varied opinions of the area (known as "Strasbourg-Saint Denis" which is the name of the metro station), because it is already an ethnic cocktail, with the old Jews of the garment district, the Turkish Kurds who have made it their part of town, and the West Indian hairdressers who have completely taken over a lot of boulevard de Strasbourg.

But it is also the heart of the theatre district, which brings fashionably dressed people every evening and a large number of celebrities -- the performing actors and their confreres who have come to see them.

The first shops of the faubourg announce the orientation of the area.





Young Kurds do what young Kurds do when they're not working (this day was a holiday) -- they hang out aimlessly.



There are restaurants geared to all budgets.

And the theatre crowd? Julien is a bourgeois landmark for theatre dining. It knows exactly when to have people out the door if they are eating a quick meal before the play, and they are ready and waiting for a new late supper mob when the theatres let out. In between those two times, they can even squeeze in another evening sitting. This place has always been a gold mine. I have eaten here, but I don't much care for it. Too snooty.

But in the very same building, there is a Turkish restaurant that I like very much. Quietly elegant and not snooty at all.



The building that these two places share is perhaps the nicest one on the entire street.



Can't afford a full meal right now? How about some excellent Turkish bread?

(more to come)

[Deleted]

Let's take a brief look in the Passage du Prado, which is entered from the Faubourg Saint Denis. It is simultaneously oddly elaborate due to its ironwork, yet austere. It is in decline at the moment, but one day it will be taken over and resurrected -- this always happens in Paris sooner or later.

I must mention in passing that it is very clear to me that the Turkish and Indian communities of Paris are clearly afflicted with freakish super-human hair growth, as is clearly evidenced by the number of barbershops they require. The Passage du Prado must be only about 120 meters long, but it contains more than a dozen barbershops.

A little Mauritian restaurant lurks inside as well.



Back out on the street....





Passage de l'Industrie is specialized in hairdressing equipment.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Amazing how great minds think alike. I've been doing a lot of exploring in the 20th recently but I've also been exploring the 2nd, 9th and 10th quite a bit too and rue Saint-Denis has been one of my focal points. I've been up and down that street at least a dozen times in the last week exploring all the passages and adjacent streets so I hope you're going to tell us more about the passages. The ones that remain all have something interesting and unique about them. I liked all the mannequins for sale in the Passage du Caire. One thing I find interesting going through the passages is not the stoes on the ground floors but what is above them. I presume the upper floors must have been where the original shopkeepers lived. It looks like most of them are storage areas or offices now, with maybe some tenants as well.

Ironic you got a photo of that Mauritian restaurant. Last year in French class one of my classmates was a Sri Lankan who worked in that restaurant Ile aux Cerfs. He said the food is very good and cheap. The last few times there I went down Passage Brady and got some of those 5 euro plates in the Indian restaurants. I'll have to try that Turkish restaurant you mentioned sometime. Waiting for more.

[bixaorellana]

Just now seeing this -- really interesting.

Re: all the beauty & barber shops. I wonder if in Turkey and/or in India, they do the same thing they do here. That is, one street will have a bunch of the same kind of store on it, stationers, hardware, or whatever. They might have imported the custom into the mini-mall passageways.

Gosh, I bet those streets smell wonderful! I want to eat at Ile aux Cerfs.

Kerouac, you answered a question I didn't even know I had. I never questioned that certain neighborhoods in New Orleans were the Faubourg this or that. The spelling must have mutated over the years, but after reading your intro to the thread, I know why those neighborhoods are called that.

The neon indicator cross on the church is a surprising touch. Is that really what it is?

[patricklondon]

I remember being amused by the soppy expression on the face of the lion on the Porte:

[Deleted]

Yes, I have his silly face in the "sculpted heads" thread of the image bank.

As you continue north on the street, the Kurds start giving way to the South Asian community, mostly Pakistani right here, but often using more commercial Indian names.

Passage Brady was the very first Pakistani restaurant zone in Paris. 30 years ago, the only South Asian restaurants were high end luxury affairs in the 'nice' part of town.

But the Pakistani community (often with British EU passports) started taking over Passage Brady by the late 1970's with small restaurants and grocery stores. I think that all of the grocery stores are gone now and that it has become 100% restaurants.

No visit today, but just a brief peek inside. I love the cheap restaurants here.







Let's see how far we have come from the Porte Saint Denis.

Another of the elegant brasseries of Paris is hiding nearby -- another favorite of the theatre crowd. You really have to know where you're going to find it. The sign out on the street is pretty discreet for the Brasserie Flo.

It's not directly on the street but in another of the many passages.



There it is back there on the left.











There's a little Turkish tearoom across the way from it. Sorry ladies, men only in these places.



Time to head back out to the street.

[Deleted]

I really enjoy taking a quick look in the various passages and courtyards of buildings.















How do you know when a residential alley is really secure? When people leave their bikes out on the pavement...



In my own building, we have bikes on every floor, but none out on the street in front.

The "bobo-ization" is in progress, as even the local Turks learn to adapt to appeal to the "bourgeois Bohemians" of the area. Well designed signage and furniture, appealing menu...

Not everything is ethnic on the street, though -- I didn't mean to give that impression. There are plenty of traditional old cafés, sometimes with the traditional French clientele, sometimes frequented by the "newcomers."

[bjd]

All these years of going to Paris, and there are still places I have never seen!

[mich64]

Really nice Kerouac, I have not experienced these Passages and am very interested in coming across some when we visit this year. Thank you for the slates!
Cheers,
Mich

[Deleted]

The new Parisians are not so interested in traditional menu slates.

     

A lot of the produce is imported from Turkey.









The side streets beg for more investigation but not today.





Shops are often a free-for-all of diverse merchandise.





You might be able to just barely see the Porte in the distance as we arrive at the very first major boulevard that cuts the street.





I had misidentified St. Vincent de Paul as Leonardo da Vinci once before a member here set me straight.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Mich64 - The greatest congregation of remaining Passages in Paris are on the street kerouac is exploring. The ones considered to be the prettiest (Galerie Vivienne and Passage Jouffroy) are north of the Palais Royal but there is still a "pretty" one called Passage du Grand Cerf off rue Saint-Denis. Great report kerouac. I think you've managed to prove with visual evidence that it is still possible to have a 3 course meal for 10 euros in Paris.

[mich64]

How wonderful, thank you for the additional information!! It will help me immensely and since my actual time in Paris will be 5 days this time I have a shorter amount of time to fit everything in and now with both of your help I will see something I have been wanting to see.
Cheers!
Mich

[Deleted]

This area was clearly all ripped up at some time, perhaps not by Baron Haussmann but certainly by someone similar, because the rue du Faubourg Saint Denis practically disappears here. But don't worry, we'll find it again on the other side of boulevard de Magenta.

I took a quick look at the little square here and made a discovery.

Not a fabulous square but plenty of benches for the bums to sleep or drink beer.

A little fountain that the pigeons loved.

       

At the back of the square, an unexpected explanation.

This building claims to be the St. Vincent de Paul amphitheatre of the medical school. I had never heard of it. On top of that, a Google seach shows no indication of it. Abandoned? Transformed into something else? I don't know.

The mystery remains but my progression up the faubourg was not finished.

The locals had a last chance to get their freakishly lavish hair under control.

This tired old café seemed to claim that a post office was nearby.



Oh, here it is, right across the street: the principal post office of the 10th arrondissement.



A short stop at a café, including cycling police officers?



How about a visit of the magnificent covered Marché Saint Quentin? Not today.



Let's cross Boulevard de Magenta. Gare de l'Est is off on the right.

[mich64]

Enjoyed the photos Kerouac! On our first visit to Paris we stayed on Rue Strasbourgh quite near Gare de l'Est, Little Regina, I believe it was actually in the 9th, but so very close to the 10th. I have been in the area of your photos. The cafe's look familiar to me. When you do these photo essays are you walking or are you on a bike? You seem to cover alot of area (thank you) when you do these pictorial reports, I feel like I am on a walk with you.
Cheers,
Mich

[Deleted]

I do these reports on foot, Mich, but sometimes over more than one day. For example, I did 80% of this report on one day but I came back a couple of days later to catch what I knew I had missed.

[mich64]

I guess that is why it makes me feel like I am walking along with you! They always have a flow of a stroll.
Cheers,
Mich

[Deleted]

We are now in the short section between Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nord. They probably could have combined these stations into one station, and there is probably some story about why they did not do so, but I don't know it.

Lots of the places here make it very clear about the location.

           

Otherwise, it is perhaps the most uninteresting section of the entire street.





We approach the corner of Gare du Nord on the left.





Now you can see the main station over there.



Tired old cafés commemorate famous trains of the past.



Where are we exactly? A great place for public transport, in any case.

It is time to enter Little India officially.

(To go back to a question by Bixa, all of the electric crosses are pharmacies, not churches.)

[Deleted]

India here, India there, India everywhere. I love it.

But there's something different here compared to the earlier part of the street. All of the buildings on the left are classic Haussmannian buildings. Why is that?

Duh, because this part of of the street was totally destroyed when the railroad was built! What do these buildings look like from the back side, where the rails are?

Not quite the same! But the rails are now underground anyway, too, because a municipal bus terminus is here.





Back to the street. I wish I knew more about these Indian tubers and what to do with them.



Other edibles are frankly scary. What is wrapped up? Will those spiky things poison me?

Good question, because the old hospital here (which will close in a few years), Fernand Widal, is the 'anti-poison' speciality hospital of Paris.

Live or die, the women will be fabulously well dressed.





A final Indian feast? An Indian from another travel site ate at Dishny and proclaimed it excellent and cheap.

But we are now at the end of the street, or at least of the end of the part called rue du Faubourg Saint Denis. Peter Brook's Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord is the last building before the elevated metro line.

One last look back at its final uncorrected crookedness.



Métro La Chapelle is the final outpost of the 10th arrondissement.









There goes the metro.



And so ends rue du Faubourg Saint Denis, with no more kings or Romans, but still a Parisian lifeline.

[koloagirl]

;D ;D ;D

Mahalo "kerouac2" - once again you have shown me another place that I wasn't able to visit last year....so one more thing I'm putting on my September "must see" list!!

As a pescatarian and a vegetarian (myself and husband) - this area does seem to offer so many choices of non-meat meals at the ethnic restaurants there - and we are all for "cheap eats" as well!

I haven't yet explored any of the "passages" in Paris - and find the pictures of them endlessly fascinating......once more you have gotten me even more thrilled and excited to be going back this year than I thought possible - 2 weeks do fly by when I am there!

Once more - mahalo for your wonderful pictures and commentary on them!!!!

Malama Pono (take care),
Janet

[Deleted]

Really interesting thread, Kerouac. I enjoyed viewing all the photos on here.

Other edibles are frankly scary. What is wrapped up? Will those spiky things poison me?

I have no idea what kind of vegetable is wrapped up in that paper, but the green spiky things are called Kerala and they can be stuffed and then cooked. They taste really good!

[Ramblin Man]

The answer to your Mystery is - Prison Saint-Lazare.

I actually walked thru the now-gardens hauling my bags when a cabbie refused to take me to my hotel in the 2nd arrond. from the Gare du Nord. Once I spotted the Porte St Denis in the distance I had my bearings for the march.

Kudos for this and all your unique photo-stories of Paris.

[Charles]

Hi Kerouac!

Just a little note about those vegetables you saw. The wrapped ones, I'm not too sure about. The spiked one won't kill you, don't worry! But it's very bitter...in fact, it's called Bitter Gourd. It's quite popular though here in India and is known to be very good for health! I could give you a good recipe (and simple as well) if you want to try them. The purple ones are eggplant (or aubergine or brinjal depending on which part of the world you are!).

Cheers!
Charles
Mumbai, India
[e-mail] (if you want that recipe!)

[tod2]

Ah, you rekindled all my memories from our last trip and visit to Rue Du Faubourg St Denis and the wonderful quirky passages! I can even say I've walked from Gare d'Est to Gare du Nord along the street in your photo and , and, got off a bus right in that terminus!
You didn't find those hookers that befriended me did 'ya??

[zona]

Very interesting information in this post. Looking forward to exploring some of the inexpensive ethnic establishments for a reasonably priced meal. The more upscale-looking Turkish restaurant Derya that you mentioned is only a ten-minute walk from where our apartment will be, so that one will definitely go on the list! Thanks for the tour of the passages as well. So much exploring to look forward to!

[Deleted]

I dug up this report again for someone else, and I am amazed at how many things have changed in the last couple of years. It remains an outstandingly interesting street.

[lagatta]

Kerouac, I think I asked you a couple of not-very-important questions at the Paris-on-a-budget thread. How I wish Jazz were posting.

[Deleted]

I thought it was time to return to the Faubourg Saint Denis because I have seen some really major changes in recent months in terms of gentrification.

For example, this greengrocer...

i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/FbgStD/FSD2014.jpg

... looks like this now.



A few places had already moved in when I first made this report, for example this place.



But many other places have just arrived.

Julhès deserves a special mention. It has been the star of the street for many years, but it has now moved into turbodrive. It received the very first distillery permit in Paris in 100 years and will soon be producing the first new distilled alcohols that Paris has produced in a century.

There are many new bars and cafés and also some places that have just renovated.

















I used to shop at this old bazaar store which has conserved its old signs.



If you glance inside, you see immediately that it is no longer the same place.



I would have to come back at night to see most of the activity, I know.









Give it another year and a lot of the Kurdish population will have moved on permanently...

[kerouac2]

I need to redo this report because things are chnging so fast!

[lagatta]

This sort of crap seems inevitable, even in my neighbourhood, although we are smaller, les flashy and less affluent than Paris intra muros. I had a lovely little greengrocer at the corner, the kind that makes 1$ baskets of day-old produce.

Now it is a shitty pizzeria - nothing to do with our neighbourhood's Italian roots or something more creative. Still, people queue to get their dose of crap.

Not to mention the tool and widjit free quincaillerie, a crime against human evolution!