Start from the =Place de la Concorde=, and walk eastward along the Rue
de Rivoli, in the direction of the Louvre. (If you like, the top of an
omnibus will suffice as far as the Hôtel de Ville.) The Place de la
Concorde itself, though old in essence, is, in its present form, quite a
modern creation, having been laid out in 1854 under the Second Empire,
when it was decorated with the 8 seated stone figures, wearing mural
crowns, and representing the chief cities of France (including
Strasbourg). The Luxor obelisk (age of Rameses II) was erected in the
Place, in its simpler form, by Louis Philippe, in 1836. The two handsome
large buildings on the N side are still earlier in date, age of Louis
XV: one of them is occupied by the Ministère de la Marine—that nearest
the Tuileries.
Proceed along the =Rue de Rivoli=, driven through this part of Paris by
Napoleon I. He was a Corsican, and admired his native Italian arcaded
streets, which he transplanted to Paris in this thoroughfare, and in the
Rues Castiglione, and des Pyramides, all of which commemorate his
victories. The form, however, is ill-adapted to the North, being
draughty and sunless: and Frenchmen have never cared for the Rue de
Rivoli, which is the street of strangers and especially of Englishmen.
The native Parisian has always preferred to sun himself on the
Boulevards. To your R are the =Gardens of the Tuileries=, still much as
they were laid out under Louis XIV by Le Nôtre, in the formal style
which well accorded with that artificial epoch. They contrast markedly
with the newer portion, further E, on the site of the Palace, laid out
by the present Republic in something like the English manner.
L, as you proceed, lies the Rue Castiglione, another of Napoleon’s
arcaded streets, leading up to the Place and Colonne Vendôme. R, a
little further on, you come abreast of the Louvre, the first Pavillon
being part of the connecting wing of the Tuileries. L, the Rue des
Pyramides, again Napoleonic: and further L, opens up the =Place du
Palais Royal=, with the façade of the Palace showing behind it. This
part, marked Conseil d’Etat, is the original building (much restored and
rebuilt): it was erected by Richelieu for his own occupation, and bore
at first the name of Palais-Cardinal. Occupied after his death by the
widow of Louis XIII, it took its present name: and was later the
residence of the notorious Regent, Philippe d’Orléans, and of his
scheming grandson, Philippe Égalité. The garden behind, with an arcade
of shops, now half deserted and uninteresting, which also bears the name
of Palais Royal (almost to the exclusion of the original building) was
laid out and let in this curious way by the Regent, as a commercial
speculation. As a relic of the past, it is worth ten minutes’ visit,
some time in passing.
Continue along the Rue de Rivoli, eastward, till you reach the Rue du
Louvre. So far, you have been passing through the Paris of Louis XIII,
Louis XIV, and the Empire; but now you are abreast with the wall of
Philippe Auguste, and enter =the Core of the Right Bank=. Old as this
part is, however, by origin, few of its buildings are mediæval; almost
everything has been re-made in the Renaissance period. To your R lies
the site of the old _château_ of the Louvre, and opposite it, the
mediæval Church of St. Germain l’Auxerrois, one of the few remaining,
which thus announces your arrival in early Paris from the town of
Napoleon and François I^{er}. (The Rue du Louvre itself is of very
recent origin, and leads to the L to the new Post Office.) Still going
east, you have on your R the tower of St. Jacques, once another fine
mediæval church, now demolished. (Near it, on the L, opens out the
modern Boulevard de Sébastopol, forming part of the great trunk line
from N to S, which was a principal feature in the Haussmannizing plan.
It is known, further N, as the Boulevard de Strasbourg, and S as the
Boulevard du Palais, and the Boulevard St. Michel.) Keep on till you
come to the =Hôtel de Ville=, the centre of the town on the North Bank.
The old Hôtel de Ville, which this building replaces, was erected in
1533, under François I^{er}, by an Italian architect, in emulation of
the similar buildings in Italy and the Low Countries. It was afterwards
largely added to at various times, and played an important part in the
history of Paris. This first Hôtel de Ville, however (a handsome
Renaissance building), was unfortunately burned down during the internal
struggles of 1871. The present edifice was erected shortly after, in
much the same style, but on a larger scale; a walk round the =exterior=
will help to piece out the visitor’s conception of Renaissance Paris.
Note here once more the _pavillons_ at the angles, and other features
which recall the Louvre. A visit to the interior is quite unnecessary
for any save those hardened sight-seers who desire to inspect the
decorations and arrangements of purely contemporary buildings. The sole
reason for coming to the Hôtel de Ville at all, indeed, is the
desirability of recognising its historic site, and understanding that
here, by the hall of the old Prévôt des Marchands and the seat of the
revolutionary Commune of Robespierre’s period, you stand at the heart of
La Ville—the Paris of the merchants. The building is occupied by the
Préfet de la Seine—the Department which practically coincides with
Paris. The Place in front of it, now called after the Hôtel itself, is
the old Place de Grève, the famous place of execution under the old
Monarchy,—almost equally conspicuous in the history of the great
Revolution.
Earlier still than the building of François I^{er}, a “Hostel de Ville”
had stood upon the same site, purchased for the purpose by Étienne
Marcel, Prévôt des Marchands, the real founder of the Paris
municipality—to whom, therefore, a bronze equestrian statue has been
erected in the little square facing the river.
The Hôtel de Ville forms a convenient centre from which to begin the
exploration of the core of the northern city. Walk round to the back
(with a second fine _façade_) and, between the two handsome barracks,
you see towering before you the front of the church of
St. Gervais.
This is an old church, remodelled: and, unlike most of the churches in
the older part of Paris, it does _not_ commemorate a local saint.
Gervasius and Protasius, to whom it is dedicated, were two very doubtful
martyrs of the persecution under Nero, whose names, bodies, and
resting-place were miraculously and conveniently revealed to St. Ambrose
at Milan (A.D. 387) at the exact moment when he needed relics for the
church he had built, and which is now dedicated to him—the most
interesting building in that beautiful city. St. Germain, bishop of
Paris, brought back some relics of these saints in 560: and thenceforth
St. Gervais and St. Protais became great objects of cult, like St.
Stephen, in the Frankish city. (They are frequent subjects of French
pictures in the 17th century.) This church, dedicated to them, probably
occupies the site of one built by St. Germain in their honour. It was
begun in 1212, added to and completely altered in 1420, and finally
remodelled in front in the later Renaissance or classic manner. Most of
the building as it stands is late Gothic; but you must go to the side to
see it: the incongruous classic _façade_, illustrating the Doric, Ionic,
and Corinthian orders, was added by Debrosse in 1616. Notice the
coldness and bareness of this pseudo-classical front, as compared with
the rich detail of the earlier mediæval exteriors. Almost the only
breaks are the figures, on either side, of the two martyrs to contain
whose relics the church was built. The sides, enclosed in houses which
go close up to the wall, show the earlier architecture. Most churches in
Paris were so walled up during the 17th century. The tower, and the
aspect of the streets at the side, are very characteristic of a set of
old effects now seldom visible.
The =interior= is chiefly noticeable for its great height, and for its
interesting Late Gothic architecture. The patron saints, with their
palms of martyrdom, stand on either side of the High Altar. The chapels
at the S side should be examined separately: in one is a good stained
glass window by Pinaigrier (restored) of the Judgment of Solomon. Notice
to what saint each is dedicated. The beautiful flamboyant Lady Chapel,
behind the choir, contains good modern frescoes, illustrating the mystic
titles of the Blessed Virgin, whose history is shown in the stained
glass of the windows, also by Pinaigrier, but very much restored. These
scenes the reader will now, I trust, be able to follow for himself—the
birth, education, marriage, etc., of the Virgin, with the events of her
life as recorded in the Gospels, and her death and assumption. Good
Pietà (Christ mourned by angels) as you return on the N side, with some
excellent paintings—Martyrdom of St. Juliet, etc. I do not enlarge, as
I hope the reader is now able to follow the lead I have given him in
previous churches.
From St. Gervais, walk a little way along the N side of the church,
enclosed in its curious envelope of houses, till you come to the Mairie
of the IVth Arrondissement. Then, turn up into the Rue de la Verrerie,
along which continue till you reach the side of the church of =St.
Merri=, almost hidden from view by a wall of houses. The _façade_ is
round the corner, in the Rue St. Martin. This is one of the few
remaining mediæval churches in this district. St. Merri (Abbot Mederic
of Autun) was a (historical) saint of the 7th century, local and early.
He had a hermitage on this spot (then in the woods), and was finally
buried here. The shrine over his tomb became the centre of a Parisian
cult, and several churches rose successively above his body. The present
one was not built till 1520; it is nevertheless a good late Gothic
building. But notice the decline from the purity of Notre-Dame and the
exquisite lightness of St. Louis’s chapel. Handsome flamboyant doorway,
one mass of sculpture: statues of 12 Apostles, with symbols of their
martyrdoms, all restored, after being destroyed in the Revolution. The
=interior= is interesting, but spoilt in 17th century: good stained
glass, badly injured. I bring you here mainly for the sake of the
reminiscences.
Continue straight on through characteristic old streets, to the modern
Boulevard de Sébastopol, which cuts right through the core of Paris.
Cross it and take the first turn to the left (as you walk northward)
observing the marked contrast of the modern thoroughfare to the narrow
streets we have just been traversing. Go along the Rue de la Reynie, and
continue for one block, till you see, a little obliquely to your right,
the
Square des Innocents.
In the centre rises the =Fontaine des Innocents=, designed by Pierre
Lescot, with beautiful and appropriate sculptured figures of nymphs,
bearing urns of water, by Jean Goujon. The fountain originally stood
with its back to the Church of the Innocents, demolished in 1783. It has
been re-erected here, with a fourth side added (to the S), and has been
much altered by the addition of a base and cupola. Nevertheless, it
still remains a beautiful and typical example of French Renaissance
architecture and sculpture. The coquettish reliefs, indeed, are not
perhaps more lovely than those which adorn Jean Goujon’s portion of the
Louvre; but they are nearer to the eye, and the scale enables one to
judge of the entire effect more truthfully. The other exquisite nymphs
which we saw in the Renaissance Sculpture at the Louvre, were originally
part of the same fountain. The pretty little square in which the
fountain stands is characteristic of the many democratic public gardens
of Paris.
Proceed diagonally across the square, and continue along the North side
of the Halles Centrales, till the east end of