The secret of the Butte Bergeyre

[kerouac2]

I am foolish enough sometimes to think that I know Paris very well after having lived here for 48 years but I am regularly amazed at how little I really know. For example, today I was reading a short article about Jean-Paul Goude, a photographer and "event designer" of reknown.  Outside of France, he is probably best known for being the companion of Grace Jones for about ten years and creating numerous impossible images of her before one could even use computer graphics for such things.  In later years, he created the image of Kim Kardashian holding a spraying champagne bottle whose contents arched over her to land in a champagne glass on her giant butt.  (Yes, computer assistance existed by then.)

Anyway, the article was about a minor problem that Goude is facing.  He bought a house in the 19th arrondissement a few years ago for 2.2 million euros, right next to his current house.  It was built in 1933 by an Austrian architect but was abandoned about 20 years ago.  He was going to renovate it, but it turns out that it must be torn down and rebuilt, something that will cost an additional 2.2 million euros.  It has a fantastic view of Montmartre and Sacré Coeur on one side and a view of the Eiffel Tower on the horizon on the other side.

But where the hell is it?  I had the name of the street so I looked it up to locate it.  It's right next to the Buttes Chaumont, behind the huge Hôpital Fondation Edmond de Rothschild which faces a corner of the park.  All I had to do was go around the back to find the street.  But rue Georges Lardennois is no ordinary street.  It twists like a snake.  Clearly some climbing would be involved.

Also, just walking around the hospital was a much longer distance than I would have imagined.  Whatever this place was, it was cut off from the world.  I actually visited somebody in the hospital once.  Even though it is mostly an eye hospital, it also does back pain and things like that.  My first boss at the airline was in there for a couple of weeks, and I went there to get some instructions on running the office.  The hospital staff was not totally happy with the fact that he preferred to remain naked in bed (he was English of course), and he enjoyed annoying them.

End of digression.

[fumobici]

Oddly the last time I was in Paris just aimlessly wandering, I blundered up the big stairway from Rue Manin just across from the park to see where it went and wound up on those streets at the top and came down the windy one on the opposite side. I don't remember any big, fancy houses at all on top, just pretty ordinary apartment buildings. Some of those apartments must have wonderful views though.

[kerouac2]

So I found the entrance to rue Georges Lardennois and entered the area. I was happy to see a stairway for pedestrians to shortcut the big bend in the street.



No, it was not fun to climb.



And then I was up there. Looks kind of normal so far.

There was a sign explaining that there used to be a 15,000 seat stadium up here which was used for the Olympics in 1924. But before then it was part of the gypsum quarry that was also at the Buttes Chaumont. But when they made the park, this area remained separate and an amusement park was built. I could not find any historical images of it. The stadium was demolished in 1926, and then they started building houses...

Here is the view of Montmartre which looks so far away, but it isn't really.

[kerouac2]

I was finally able to understand how the hill could be so hidden. Street level up here and street level on the other side is a difference of 9 floors.





Some of the houses look simultaneously simple and also ultra expensive. Most expensive Paris real estate is not at all flashy on the outside.





Some residents may become imprisoned one day.

[kerouac2]

I wonder what the population of this little neighbourhood is. There are absolutely no businesses, so they have go down the hill for everything.







One of the street names clearly explains the local socio demographics.



Some of the houses have quite massive private gardens.



But most places oblige you tojust imagine what is behind the door.





Atually, there is one tiny grocery store up here for emergencies, but it was closed on a Saturday afternoon.



In this street, the residents clearly decided by mutal consent that they could have a little garden out on the pavement.

[kerouac2]

There is also an official collective garden, probably on land where it was not safe to build.





It appears on the official map of collective gardens of the 19th arrondissement.





It appears to be the private domain of this feline.



This path going down the hill is at least semi public but it was closed off, because...



... of this.

[kerouac2]

This turned out to be the famous Zilveli house purchased for 2.2 million. This is all I could see of it.



However, here are some old views of it.









I went back down the Butte Bergeyre.



There are other houses with fantastic panoramas along the way.





The French often have trouble with the spelling of Edgar. They can't believe that it doesn't end in D.



I always wondered why there was a huge Jaguar dealership on the boulevard in such an unusual location. Now I know.



This is the only little street incursion into the zone at the bottom, terminating quickly into a dead end.




There is a view up the unconstructed part of the hill.



I walked around the block and immediately understood how they had hidden the Butte Bergeyre for so long with other buildings.

[kerouac2]

I finally saw one of the other access points for pedestrians.





Guess what? I walked all the way up again to see why I had missed seeing the outlet at the top.



It was just discreet, not hidden.



Okay, back down again.



Some people are window box geniuses.



Down on rue Manin, there was another wall of buildings hiding the hill.



Here is the stairway that Fumobici used.



No, I didn't go back up a third time.



It really is just across the street from the Buttes Chaumont.



And here is the huge Hôpital Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild.



Even here you can't tell that there is a hill hidden in back.



Waiting for the bus home, I saw that the apartments on rue Botzaris at the back of the park are even higher up.

[mich64]

That was quite a day of hills and stairs, but worth it. It is especially fortunate during these times to find yourself a bit of an adventure to see something you were unaware of in a place you have lived so long in.

[bixaorellana]

Well, you were intrepid not only with your stair climbing, but with explaining all of this so it makes sense.

Very interesting, not only because of the many lovely pictures, but because of the intriguing, possibly quite significant architecture hidden behind vines, fences, and garbage bins. I'd love to know the history -- & possible renovation history -- of the two neighbor houses in the first picture of #6, for instance.

As you point out, some of the private gardens are surprisingly large, but all of the gardens are surprising, from the terraced abundance of the collective garden to that ad hoc sidewalk display featuring oleanders. I have to say, though, that my heroes are the window box gardeners in #8 with their gorgeous Japanese maples and blooming camellias.

[mossie]

This was a place I chickened out of exploring because of the gradients, so thanks for showing us.

[patricklondon]

My oh my. My very first trip to Paris, nearly 60 years ago now, was an exchange with a school-organised pen-pal whose family lived in a flat at the very bottom of Rue Georges Lardennois. They were of a much more modest demographic, and I don't recall ever going up the hill on that trip, only down to Metro Bolivar for another trek round the sites and museums.

It wasn't till a few years ago, when I did a hone exchange with someone just off Ave. Secrétan, that I went to explore again round there. I can't say that it triggered any buried memories, but it's certainly a different, and in some streets an almost suburban, atmosphere.



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[onlyMark]

Apr 10, 2021 22:24:50 GMT kerouac2 said:

I could not find any historical images of it.

Of the Folles Buttes I can only see a couple of the entrance with a helter skelter on a hill inside.

[kerouac2]

Now that you mentioned it, I found it, too.

[bjd]

Not at all my area of Paris, so it's always interesting to see these "hidden" areas. Any green space or garden is special in Paris, even the view of a tree hikes the price of an apartment.

[lagatta]

That is something Parisians really appreciate here in Montréal. Our coop is typical triplexes from the early 20th century, but I have trees front and back in very small yards.

[tod2]

Wonderful walk Kerouac. I note that it is the part of the 19th called Combat, and encompasses the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. When on a visit to Belleville I went on a hunt for the old Mercano toy factory. That took me up Rue de LÁtlas, (by mistake) and it is indeed a steep walk. I came down Rue Rebeval where the factory still stood, looking good as new.
I love discovering places you would never think exist, and you showed us some pretty nifty houses. The view with Sacre-Coeur way off in the distance is fabulous.