Les Halles

Excerpted from France, Paris, and the Provinces
by Roger Roumagnac, Translated by Marguerite Bigot and Madeleine Blaess;
Paris Kiosque - December 1997 - Volume 4, Number 12

Editor's Note: In this piece, we look at a memory of Paris nearly 50 years old. Originally published in the book France, Paris, and the Provinces (McGraw-Hill, 1948, New York.), it evokes a bit of that atmosphere for which Paris is so well known. These days it is sometimes a bit harder to find it, but rest assured it still exists.

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A Byzantine manuscript worth ten million francs.
Wad of banknotes fresh from the printing-press.
A mountain of vegtables.
Good news in the headlines of the papers.
Pork.
A Suez Canal share.
Just imagine these gifts... Just imagine this huge Ali Baba's Cave : the district of Paris which includes the National Library, the Bank of France, the Comédie Française, the Halles, the rue Montmartre, the 'Change and the Palais-Royal.

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The Halles

Ever since the city can remember, Parisians have come to this central market to get their supplies. In the Middle Ages, the proximity of the vast Charnier des Innocents, which contained over a million dead bodies in its charnel house, did not even cause the city to remove the Champeaux (the Halles of the time).

This force of inertia with respect the the Halles is still manifest today. Plans have ogten been made to install them in modern buildings on the outskirts of the city. But, as tradition is strong, they will probably remain where they are for a long time to come, bottling up the traffic, and maintaining a picturesque animation in the very heart of the capital.

Withe the exception of the part recently built, the Halles date from 1852. It was Napoléon III who had them erected on the site of the old covered market built in the reign of Philippe Auguste (1183). Napoléon only wanted vast shelters in the shape of an umbrella, hence these strange iron structures which no longer meet with modern requirements. But even to a greater extent than the halles themselves, the entire district looks shappy and cramped in its dark narrow streets.

When the country produce comes in you can only make your way with great difficulty amidst crates of fruit and vehicles of all sorts. The ground is slippery. Strong smells emanate from the shops of commission agents and wholesalers. It is not unusual to see frogs jump out of bunches of watercress or rabbits or hares escaping from their baskets. The entire population of the Halles then takes part in the chase, sometimes with humour, more often swearing like a bargee. The streets all round the central buildings where fish, meat, vegtables, cheese, game, flowers, fruit and eggs are sold, are bordered by small cafés and restaurants, some of which are held in high repute. Le Chien qui fume, Le Père Tranquille, Le Beau Nègre, l'Escargot d'Or, Le Pied de Cochon are all well known to the Parisians, for it used to be fashionable, when the halles opened at five in the morning, to wind up rollicking night by eating onion soup and grilled pigs' trotters in the company of the famous Forts des Halles (strong men) and joyous pot-bellied commission agents.

The Forts des Halles guild is a very old French institution. It is composed of tall and exceptionally strong men who carry heavy loads on their backs from the cars to the buildings. They have a special dress, the most characteristic part of which is an enourmous hat which they wear on special occasions.

At the present time, the sales start at one o'clock in the afternoon, and last until half past three. Before the end of the afternoon, everything is cleaned up and every shop is closed. An army of cats then emerges from the neighbouring cellars, and basements, and prowls about with great indifference amidst the lambs, veal, mutton and beef that remain hanging in the Halles until the following day.

Facing the Halles, rue du Jour, stands Saint Eustache, which is considered as one of the most remarkable religous edifices in Paris, in fact the first after Notre Dame. Partly Gothic, partly Renaissance architecture of the 14th and 15th centuries, this church is famous for its exceptionally beautiful religous music.

In the middle of the Square des Innocents, at the northeastern end of the Halles, we find the most beautiful fountain in Paris : La Fountain des Innocents a small masterpiece of the Renaissance. The mermaids in bas-relief are the work of Jean Goujon.

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France, Paris, and the Provinces - text by Roger Roumagnac, Translated by Marguerite Bigot and Madeleine Blaess; Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill, 1948, New York.