Rue d'Anjou & More

By Thirza Vallois

With Bastille Day round the corner, why not commemorate the French Revolution with some Revolutionary walks around Paris. There are plenty of such walks in the internationally acclaimed Around and About Paris. In each of these walks author Thirza Vallois unfolds some of the best kept secrets of Paris and of the French Revolution. In the following excerpt, author Thirza Vallois will walk you to one of those secrets, all the more astonishing as it stands right in front of everyone, in one of the busiest neighbourhoods of central Paris, yet no one seems to notice it. You will find the entire walk, and many other exciting ones, in the chapter on the 8th arrondissement of Around and About Paris, Volume 2, the indispensable guide to a true discovery and understanding of Paris. Around and About Paris is published by Iliad Books, London, UK.

Cross over and turn right into rue d'Anjou, an ancient way that dates from the 16th century and is named after the Duc d'Anjou, the future Henri III, who, it is rumoured, had a love-nest here, where he carried on his illicit homosexual affairs. Some locate the house, `where the King came with his fairies', on the neighbouring rue de la Pépinière, then the dirt road leading to the village of Roule; that house was still standing in the 18th century.

Since Henri III had been King of Poland briefly, before his accession to the throne of France, the area came to be known as La Petite Pologne, a slummy enclave before Haussmann got to it, with a rubbish dump near by. `It was the homeland, at tenpence a night, of all the street organ players, of all the monkey tamers, of all the acrobats and of all the chimney sweeps that swarm the streets of the town,' wrote Albèric Second in 1860. The street runs along a little square, the only spot of greenery next to the crowded Boulevard Haussmann and its packed pavements one block away, where the Printemps and Galeries Lafayette department stores are located. In the 18th century this was the parish cemetery of the Madeleine, lying amidst kitchen gardens which were watered by the open-air sewer (Le Grand-Egout), that ran all the way from Belleville, through the present Boulevard Haussmann and on to the Seine at Place d'Alma.

Its malodorous smells did not deter privileged families from coming to live on rue d'Anjou nd adorning it with elegant hôtels all the way from Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The one at no. 51 was occupied by Félix Tournachon, much better known as Nadar, in 1910, when he died there, aged 90. Famous photographer of Belle Epoque Paris, friend of painters and of literati, who had offered the Impressionists his premises on Boulevard des Capucines for their first exhibition in 1874, Nadar was himself a novelist and aeronaut. His famous ballons enabled besieged Paris to communicate with the outside world and ease the Prussian pressure in 1870, and he also served as a model for Ardan in Jules Verne's Voyage Round the Moon.

The 18th-century hôtel at no 52 was the home of Destutt de Tracy who, in 1834, made the official announcement of the death of La Fayette, a friend of his father, in the old townhall of the arrondissement, on Faubourg Saint-Honoré. (The Marquis de La Fayette died on 20 May at no. 8, down the street.) The 18th-century philosopher Helvétius owned a property at the present no. 54. No. 59 was the home of the Comte de Chazelles, a wealthy Farmer General who was sent to the guillotine in 1794, a fate he shared with his son-in-law, the famous chemist Lavoisier. Rue Lavoisier on your right was opened through the gardens of his property. It is said that when it was time for Lavoisier to set out for Place de la Révolution he requested a couple of hours' delay so as to finish an experiment, but this was denied him because `The Republic is in no need of scientists'.

The cemetery of the Madeleine, shut off from the countryside by a high wall, was opened in 1721. Some noteworthy figures of the 18th century were brought to rest here and also all the 133 victims who perished in the accidental fire on Place Louis XV (Concorde) during the wedding celebration of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette on 30 May 1770. To these were added on 10 August 1792 the bodies of the Swiss Guards who were massacred during the assault on the Tuileries and on 26 August it became the burial-ground of all the decapitated bodies that were brought here from Place de la Révolution, among them King Louis XVI.

His cart followed the itinerary of the prsent rue Boissy-d'Anglas, then turned left into rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and right into rue d'Anjou. The King was granted a coffin and his body was clad in a shirt, grew woollen breeches, grey silk stockings and a white quilted coat. His head was laid between his legs. The coffin was painted with quicklime and buried in a grave over three metres deep and three metres away from the wall along rue d'Anjou. At least he was accorded a modicum of respect and, despite the ungodly times, the vicars of the Madeleine were allowed to preside over the ceremony and recite prayers for the soul of the deceased, according to Roman Catholic rites. `The Patriot Palloy', a profiteering crook from Faubourg Saint-Antoine, showed less respect for His Majesty and commemorated the event with a new dish, tête de cochon farcie.

In 1802 Pierre-Louis Ollivier Desclozeaux, resident at no. 48 rue d'Anjou at the time of the Revolution, bought the closed-down cemetery and made it part of his garden. In 1793 he had carefully taken note of the precise spot where the King and Queen had been buried, which was corroborated by his son-in-law, the lawyer Daujou. He then proceeded to plant two weeping willows and several cypress trees around their graves.

When Louis XVIII acceded to the throne in 1815 he set his heart on finding the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette and Desclozeaux pointed out to him the location of the two graves. This was confirmed by a certain Pierre Sevest, the grandson of one of the grave-diggers who had buried the King. For his help Seveste was granted a monopoly over all the suburban theatres, as well as the right to produce plays that were running in Paris at the same time, hitherto forbidden. As for Desclozeaux, he was rewarded with a generous pension, which was extended to his two daughters, and the honorary sash of Saint-Michel. He also received, after much haggling, substantial sums of money for the sale of his house and garden to Louis XVIII a hear later (11 January 1816), 100,000 and 60,000 francs respectively. The bodies of the royal couple were exhumed, the Queen on 18 January 1815, the King on the 19th, and transferred to the Basilica of Saint-Denis where France's royalty had been buried since Dagobert I had been laid there in 638. A monument called La Chapelle Expiatoire was erected over the area of the entire cemetery and was inaugurated in 1826.; Sadly, in 1862, the cypress trees and weeping willows planted by the faithful Desclozeaus were chopped down - one wonders why.

Today only some politically-minded royalists, on the extreme right, gather at this otherwise deserted spot on special commemoration days, especially on 21 January, the anniversary of Louis XVI's execution, while the shoppers at the nearby Galeries Lafayette, Au Printemps or Marks and Spencer's are totally unaware of the existence of the monument to the defunct French monarchy. If the Revolution proved incapable of fulfilling its ideals, it was however prompt in obliterating from France's collective memory its murderous destruction of the Ancien Régime. If you wish to go in, enter through rue des Mathurins, clled after the order of the Mathurins who owned a farm here.

Thirza Vallois brings Paris to life in a way that enthralls her readers and provides them with a detailed knowledge of the city which exceeds that of most Parisians, while her fast moving style disguises a depth of historical fact that is normally only found in academic tomes. Writer William Boyd wrote in The Spectator: "I think we can safely toss all other Paris guidebooks aside....There can be no higher praise than when I say they come close to the world's greatest guidebook, J. Link's "Venice for Pleasure" and they should soon achieve similar legendary status." The French Ambassador to the UK wrote: "I am convinced that this guide will constitute from now on, for the British lovers of Paris, a reference book which will have the success it deserves." Around and About Paris may be ordered online here.

A long time resident of Paris, she currently lives just three hours outside of Paris in London, and may be contacted via thirzavallois@iliadbooks.demon.co.uk.

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