The covered passages of Paris (by kerouac2)

[Deleted]

This should be an ongoing thread for a certain length of time, because there are a lot of covered passages in Paris, and I just started taking a few pictures of them. I'm sure that other members will have photos to add as well, because so many of the passages are exactly the quirky and picturesque "non monument" that visitors enjoy seeing as a break from the usual stuff.

Most of the passages of Paris were built in the first half of the 19th century and can be considered a precursor of modern shopping malls, because they were designed to protect shoppers from the elements and to offer a wide variety of shops. At one time, there were as many as 150 passages in Paris, but Baron Haussmann saw to it that most of them were destroyed when he redesigned the city, because his goal was to have wide open spaces and not narrow little alleys where diseases and suspicious characters could multiply.

In the 21st century, there are no more than about 25 passages that make it into guidebooks, but I would say that double that number probably exist if one's definition of "passage" is a bit flexible. Strangely enough, nearly all of the passages are on the Right Bank.

Do not expect any geographical logic from this thread, because I photographed them at random and will most certainly discover some of the others at random, too.

One of my favourites in the Les Halles area is the Passage du Grand Cerf, simply because it has some of the most interesting shops selling all sorts of oddities. I have even bought a few things in these shops, which would seem to indicate that they are not even overpriced, since I am such a cheapskate.

Crossing a pedestrian street allows you to continue to the Passage Bourg l'Abbé which has fewer visual treats.







Anything with a covered entrance excites my interest. I checked out the Impasse Saint Denis.



Nope, just a skinny dead end -- people live along it!





Nearby, I wondered at what time the Cul de Sac Basfour had become the Passage Basfour.



But once again, it was just a skinny street with nothing to see.



On the other hand, Passage du Caire has always fascinated me. It is part of the garment district.







Most of the guidebooks do not mention it because a 1) it has no classic beauty and 2) the shops are wholesale only.



It branches out everywhere through the city block.

[bixaorellana]

You got some wonderful pictures of the passageways. I'm really looking forward to following this thread.

There are very some very similar covered passages in Puebla, a city that molded itself on French models to a degree. Re: the very narrow streets -- there is a skinny alley like those on the side of the Canal St. Marriott in New Orleans. It's original purpose was as a rope walk, which needed a long space but not much width. It would be interesting to know if those narrow Parisian passages originally had such a use.

[fgrsk8r1970]

Very interesting - you know that with all these new ideas I am learning from you I may never sleep when we visit on Christmas??? LOL - wish I had time to explore it all.
I see that you also were able to get a couple of Caryatids at the Impasse Saint Denis (another thing I learned here and now will have to be on the lookout for )

[Deleted]

If you look at a map of Paris, you will see that the Passage du Caire area has a whole theme going -- because there is rue du Caire, of course, but also rue d'Alexandrie, rue du Nil and rue d'Aboukir. I imagine that all of this dates back to Napoleon's Egyptian campaign when all of France was overtaken by "Egypt Mania." In recent years, the passage could have been renamed for Pakistan, because at the beginning of each working day, a horde of undocumented mostly Pakistanis (but also Bangladeshis) congregate at the entrance of Passage du Caire to get day work from the garment industry, hauling the racks of clothing around, loading trucks or wrapping items in plastic. Most of the owners are still Jewish in this area as one can see from the local restaurants. The Chinese began to move in around the 1980's and bought out quite a few of the commerces as the owners retired, but the Chinese and the Jews did not mix harmoniously, and then the Chinese discovered the total anarchy of Aubervilliers, which was much more to their liking and which also permitted unlimited expansions, something that is not really possible in the Sentier, the name of the Paris garment district. Now Aubervilliers is much bigger, and some of the Jewish companies have even moved out there -- the younger generations mix much better than the older ones.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the passages, though!

However, here is Passage du Ponceau, another garment passage.



I took a picture of each end first.

Why did I do that? Well, these particular passages are all self-contained villages (unlike the more touristy ones), and absolutely everybody knows everybody else, so I was viewed with total suspicion, which does not make for comfortable picture taking.

A bit farther north is the Passage du Prado, in the 10th arrondissement.



It used to be mostly Turkish sewing shops and now it is almost exclusively Pakistani barber shops!





I don't know who did the totally excellent paint job. Nostalgia for Asian bus decorations?

[Deleted]

Just beyond the Passage du Prado is the Passage de l'Industrie, not a real passage but a small street.



However, it has some good wallpaper art at the moment.



Passage Brady is the passage of Pakistani restaurants. I will get back to it for a full treatment. It is amazing.



Passage des Petites Ecuries is also actually a street, but also the location of the excellent and famous Brasserie Flo.





Passage du Désir is now a private courtyard, unfortunate for a place with such a great name.

Passage Reilhac is also inaccessible. The mystery is intact.

[mossie]

First time I have seen a barometer done in centimetres
Also be careful what you wish for in those little passages with no shops, your wishes may not turn out as exciting as you hoped ;D ;D

[Deleted]

The most famous passages of Paris are located near the Grands Boulevards, but basically they are mostly famous with European tourists, who prefer that area for hotels. Tourists from the Americas or Asia tend to avoid that zone like poison, because there are no monuments and no museums close by, just the wonderful Parisian atmosphere. (Of course after multiple returns to Paris, even these tourist groups generally finally discover this area in Paris.)

I decided to enter the network of passages at the "far end" on the rue du Faubourg Montmartre. And I additionally decided to go rather early in the morning, because the passages get extremely crowded later, which can turn photography into an annoying problem.

So I started with Passage Verdeau around 8 a.m.





The passages around here are famous for booksellers, philatelists and numismatists.





You move from one passage to the next just by crossing a street. Passage Jouffroy has a historical plaque.







The passages zig and zag as necessary.



Alongside Passage Jouffroy is the Paris wax museum, the Musée Grévin, so it manifests itself along the way.





Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to stay in this hotel in the passage (and it is quite inexpensive).



Not to mention this doll furniture store that practically makes me want to build a doll house!



Of course, as I get on in years, this walking stick shop makes me want to buy a cane.





The Musée Grévin says hello again. Creepy!





Here is the Grands Boulevards entrance.

[mossie]

Thanks for bringing back good memories, it was visiting the Passages which caused my obsession with Paris
If you fancy a coffee and a pretty gateau try le Valentin in passage Jouffrey, her card is subtitled "Petit theatre des Gourmandises". Www.le-valentin.fr

[htmb]

And hot chocolate, too, I see, Mossie.

[patricklondon]

I have fond memories of the Passage du Grand Cerf if only because I too found a bargain among the odds and ends in a very dusty shop: some coathooks attached to a brass frame containing a piece of ornate Art Nouveau tiling that just suited my colour scheme at home. It took a deal of cleaning up when I got it home, but it was only a few euros and was something the flat needed.

And if you'll forgive hi-jacking your thread, there was also a little café where for a moment I could enjoy pretending to be just a little bit French:


I've couple of the shop windows in the Passage Choiseul and the Galerie Vivienne, but I won't trespass on your hospitality, so to speak.

[Deleted]

I am looking forward to seeing other people's photos of the galleries and passages.

Anyway, once you exit Passage Jouffroy, Passage des Panoramas awaits on the other side of the boulevard.













Deep inside the city block, there are signs for intersecting passages.

       

Most of the offshoots don't go anywhere interesting, though.









Not too far from there is the Passage Beaujolais. It is just a tiny connection to the Palais Royal, though.

[Deleted]

I was here too early for the Passage du Perron to be open. It contains just one shop of antique dolls.

The Galerie Colbert right behind the Palais Royal is beautiful, but it is also not open to the public. Security guards at each entrance restrict access, because everything inside is an annex of the Ministry of Culture. I have been in there a few times with friends to eat lunch in the cafeteria when they were working at the old Bibilothèque Nationale next door.

Galerie Vivienne in the same building is in all of the guidebooks, though.





I bet the upstairs area is fascinating, too.

[patricklondon]

Some frivolities and frou-frou:

From the Galerie Vivienne:




(the second one is of a stationery shop - the screen outside is made entirely of cardboard in various forms and structure)

And the ultimate in ooh-la-la (eat your heart out, Mistinguett!) from the Passage Choiseul:

[Deleted]

Not as historical as the original old passages but still built in the same spirit are the former Arcades du Lido, now (recently) renamed the Arcades des Champs Elysées since the Lido moved to a different location already back in 1977. This gallery was built in the 1920's. Interestingly enough, the original name of the gallery was indeed Arcades des Champs Elysées before the Lido opened in 1929.

While the interior design is splendid, the shops are pretty sleazy for the most part.



We call this kind of stuff hooker Lebanese style in Paris.







back door to back street, full of Lebanese hookers



Here is where the Lido used to be. In the meantime, it was the location of Planet Hollywood.

[fgrsk8r1970]

I love this thread - so interesting !!! Are most of these passages relatively flat? (I spotted a few photos with small steps here and there)
Just asking if it would be possible to visit with the hubby as we are most likely going to be using a wheel chair for him.
Keep'em coming, they are great... THANKS!

[Deleted]

Yes, most of the passages are flat, but there are indeed a few steps in some of them, as you noticed. Normally there would be a ramp as required by law -- but the "ramp" is the street outside! You would just walk around the street on the outside to get into a different section in order to avoid the steps.

[bjd]

One of my plans on a trip to Paris was to go around and check out the various passages -- now I know which ones to choose, so thank you, Kerouac. Good idea for a photo thread.

[Deleted]

Near the mairie of the 10th arrondissement is the very simple Passage du Marché which just gives access to the covered market.



It has been a bit enlivened with street art.











The market building did not survive the atrocities of the 1970's.



Back then, they thought it was sufficient to keep a few minor vestiges to adequately honour the past.



Well, Parisian markets have moved on anyway, and so did I.

[Deleted]

Since I promised to come back to Passage Brady, I did so this morning.



Most people don't know that the passage spans both sides of boulevard de Strasbourg. One side is open air.



Both sections are chock full of Indo-Pakistani restaurants.



The covered part is undergoing major renovation at the moment, so I'll have to come back in 6 months or so.







I don't know what they have dug up, but I could feel that there was a chasm under the pressed wood temporary floor.



A number of the restaurants were out of service due to the construction.



This place has excellent 6€ specials -- when there is not a generator there!

[htmb]

I am enjoying visiting the passages via your camera lens. I've only been in one passage that I can remember, and it was somewhere in the 6th. I hope to use your thread as a reference and visit some of these on my next trip. I've hardly explored most of the areas you've pictured, not to mention the passages. There's always so much I want to see and do in Paris, I never seem to make much of a dent in my wish list and always leave with the idea that I must return again soon.

[lola]

Kerouac and Patrick, thanks for escorting us down those Lebanese Asian froufrou passages. And the exclusive ones, too.

[Deleted]

Here's another little uncovered passage of Paris. Obviously I should have made a separate report about "strange little alleys" of Paris but it is too late now.

However, the Passage de la Trinité has had a very rich history.

Basically, it is the site of the Hôpital de la Trinité which was actually a hotel. It housed people who got locked out of the city walls at night starting in 1201 (very small city back then!). In 1402, it became the first theatre in Paris for the staging of passion plays. After a mere 132 years, the theatre was turned over to an orphanage, which remained there until 1790. And now, whatever is left of the past has been fused into a little alley where ordinary people live.

There is at least a plaque to inform people about all of this.



Meanwhile, on rue Sainte Anne, the Passage Sainte Anne appears to be of no interest at all.



Particularly on a Saturday morning, there is not even a hint of activity.



In fact, it is just a corridor leading to...



... the Passage Choiseul, one of the longest passages in Paris.



Normally you would enter from another street. More renovation!











One of the major theatres of Paris is in the passage.



Renovation is complete on some of the skylight.



But the other end of the passage is also hidden by scaffolding.

[Deleted]

One sad thing about passages is that if you kill one, you can't really bring it back to life. A case in point is the Passage des Princes, which was the last passage built, in 1860, right when Baron Haussmann was beginning to rip Old Paris to shreds. But at the end of the 1980's the whole block was torn down to be rebuilt. By then, developers finally had the bright idea to save the outer shell of historical buildings and to put certain things back the way they used to look, so the Passage des Princes was rebuilt exactly as it used to be from 1990 to 1994. But you can't do that with a passage. It needs to be totally disparate with merchants that have been there 100, 80, 50, 30, 20 years creating a perfect anarchy of merchandise, services and appearance. This "new" passage expected interesting places to move in and certainly pay at least 5 times the rent of the older passages. It was a tragedy to observe -- so many places tried to open and failed 2 months or 2 years later, and the glittering new passage was abandoned.

About 10 years ago, it was finally saved by a toy store, which took over every space in the gallery. It will never really feel like a passage again, but at least the toy store kept the spaces separate and devoted each one to a different speciality -- dolls, stuffed animals, etc.

The entrance was already a huge mistake.



Inside, the architecture was faithful to the original.















The exit at the other end looks a bit more normal.

[tod2]

A really superb photo-walk through those intriguing passages! I went through the most popular touristy ones many years ago and more recently did the Passage Brady tour. That was simply because of it's history. I do hope you go back when it's all redone.

[woody77]

does Passage du Havre count, or is it more a modern knock-off? It felt like a US mall when I was there yesterday. The Starbucks, Gap, and H&M really helped cement that feeling.

[Deleted]

I almost took a few photos of Passage du Havre, which was a very real and authentic passage built in 1845 until it was demolished, just like the Passage de Princes. One of the most interesting shops in that passage was a model train specialist. I even had some friends who actually lived in the Passage du Havre in the 1980's.

Unfortunately, the whole block was demolished at the end of the 1990's and recreated as a mini shopping mall. While it is quite successful since it proposes popular shops and is right across from Gare Saint Lazare, one of the busiest train stations in Europe, it certainly no longer qualifies as a "passage" in spite of having kept the historical name.

[woody77]

That was my thought.

When we entered from the Metro, it was really disorienting for a few minutes. Everything in front of us (H&M, Gap, Starbucks) was indistinguishable from any decent mall in the US. Even down to the stone flooring (vs. those lovely tile mosaic floors in some of the older passages)

[Deleted]

The little Passage Vendôme at Place de la République was unfortunately closed this morning.



Here is the view through the gate anyway.



Passage des Gravilliers is actually just a shortcut through the middle of a city block.







Passage de l'Horloge is another modern total failure. It was built at the same time as its neighbour, the Centre Pompidou.



The famous and fascinating horloge has been out of order for almost a decade.

Anyway, little by little the passage was abandoned by all of the merchants and once the last one left, they just locked the gates and it filled with trash -- really a sad sight! The knight in shining armour in this case turned out to be the hardware giant Leroy Merlin (same as Home Depot or Lowe's for people familiar with those places). Normally, these are big box stores out in the suburbs. Parisians desperately need all of the things that are sold in such places, but 60% of us do not own an automobile. The competitor of Leroy Merlin, Castorama, had managed to find three locations inside the city over the years (one of which was a former BHV department store in the 19th arrondissement), so this was a master stroke by Leroy Merlin to find a big enough place in the absolute center of the city. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it goes down 4 levels which never seem to end. Meanwhile, the Passage de l'Horloge sign remains above the door, probably forever.

Passage Molière is a delightful little place devoted to culture.









Friends of a friend used to have an old bookstore in this yellow place.









Unfortunately the lovely Galerie Vero-Dodat was closed for May Day.







Most of the shops are no longer what they used to be.

[fgrsk8r1970]

Another one on my list ;-) This one is the closest to our Apt so far!!! I love this thread ;D

[Laura]

I loved visiting the covered passages on my last visit to Paris. Passage du Grand Cerf was my favorite. Lil Weasel, a very nice little knitting boutique, is there. And there's also a very nice bar, Le Pas Sage. We enjoyed a few drinks there one afternoon, during a brief heavy rainstorm.