First of all the
pronunciation :
(Ley-all
) Try at your own risk because it is common
knowledge and scientific fact that you will never
speak French like the French do, even if they stop
grimacing or finishing your sentences for
you. Les
Halles, which
means what it sounds like, was one of the true
wonders of working class Paris. Made famous
by Emile
Zola’s famous
novel of the same name, it was nicknamed
“the
stomach” of
Paris for obvious reasons, as well as the scale of
it’s labyrinthine underground alleys selling fish,
meat and vegetables. The fresh food market has
always been the center and living focal point of a
city. Banks and creditors may run the show, but
everyone has to eat, and Les Halles was a monument
to the great tradition of western markets, and
retains mythical status in the minds of Parisians
and anyone else who was lucky enough to have
experienced it.
For 800 years this glorious market was the hub of
all food distribution in the city. The gigantic
steel arches covered the main market area which
sold vegetables during the day and was also used
as a general meeting point for citizens of Paris.
The steelwork was designed by the famed
architecht,
Baltard
, and was reminiscent of the support structures
now visible in the
Gare du
Nord,
and St.
Lazare or
better yet, the
Musee
d’Orsay.
While the construction was considered practical by
19th and 20th century standards, the soaring beams
with their paint- encrusted rivets and glass
awnings have come to represent the fading beauty
of the fin de siecle. The markets were most
interesting at night when the meat and fish
markets would go into full steam. Thousands of
tons or meat and fish were bought, butchered,
traded and sold in the middle of the night. In the
1950’s It was in the Halles meat markets in the
wee hours that the Greek painter
NONDA
unrolled canvases and
painted using the blood of cow’s spleen and
charcoal as a solution to expensive materials. He
became known among the local fishmongers and
butchers who gave him fish to paint (and then eat)
as well as liver and spleen. Much later, the
spleen painting were to hang in gentrified private
collections and exhibitions far from the wild and
raucous bustle of the Halles.
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Sadly, the market’s success was the root of it’s
own demise. The volume of traffic to and from the
market began to cause serious bottlenecks in the
city center and the site was earmarked for
destruction in the 1960’s. The physical removal of
the arcades left a gaping hole in the earth for
many years which was eventually converted into the
multi-story underground shopping mall and metro
station we see today. The pavilion built on the
site is now a garden that attempts to mimic
certain features of the original site as well
as
Baltard’s
architecture, but is
mostly a pleasant pedestrian area adjacent to the
beautiful Gothic cathedral of
St.
Eustache.
(the church organ is world famous and contains
8000 pipes!) There is an interesting fountain
there, occasional sculpture exhibitions and a lot
of young pseudo gangsters milling around trying to
sell hash or just look cool. The metro stop and
shopping mall contain every modern shop
imaginable, but there is a confusion to the
layout, a million exits, masses of young hipsters
and lots of policemen all crammed into an area
that stimulates but tires--- it’s like an American
mall on steroids, too much music blaring from too
many shops, to many lights, too many colors,
doors, escalators…call me a curmudgeon.
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In the same vicinity
there are many shops and outdoor stalls selling
everything from CD’s to leather jackets. The area
has become a little seedy, but not in a dangerous
way, it just looks like a tame version of Times
Square minus the lights. In the summer there are
good street performers who occupy the main area in
front of the museum, as well as skateboarders,
musicians, mimes, protest groups, portraitists,drunks, hobos etc.
There is of course the famous museum of modern art, the
Centre
Pompidou which looks like some kind of giant chain superstore from the future, and reminds me of the movie Brazil, and
the bizarre and controversial fountains
called Homage
to Stravinsky
designed by
Jean
Tingley (Kids
always LOVE this fountain) Another much overlooked
site which is invisible because it’s underground
is Brancusi’s
Studio. You
can buy a ticket from the Pompido and visit the
recreated workshop of the great sculptor. It’s worth it.
From the Pompidou you can walk towardthe Hotel de
Ville and
then across the river to the
Notre Dame
Cathedral, or
if you are feeling sick of grand architecture and
broad boulevards, walk back the the
St.
Eustache and
cross Rue
Montmartre until
you find the
Rue
Montorgueil.
This is a wonderful little street filled with
shops, cafes and restaurants. I recommend it.
There are a number of hotels in the neighborhood and this is one of the best areas to stay in because of its proximity to the Louvre and so many of the places you will want to see and the many restaurants and bars in Les Halles and the Marais. Try the 3-star Citadines Apart'hotel Les Halles, the Grand Hôtel Dechampaigne or the magnificent 18th-century 4-star Hotel L'Empire Paris nestled between the Louvre Museum and Les Halles.
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