A Bit of Revolutionary History

By Thirza Vallois

Forget about tapas and tex-mex cuisine, which have mushroomed overnight in what has become the trendy arrondissement of present-day Paris - the 11th is the soul, blood and essence of Paris even if much of it -alas - is now gone. Do make time for it on your next visit - it holds some of the city's most precious secrets.

When the last decade of the 20th century witnessed the collapse of communism throughout the Soviet empire and her European satellites, proletarian traditions lost their grip on the 11th arrondissement, the vanguard of French class struggle ever since 1789. As protesters march between Place de la Nation, Place de la Republique and Place de la Bastille - the three cardinal points of working-class militancy - one is struck by the dramatic fall in their ranks. Even the First of May parade no longer galvanises the labouring masses; the red banners are few and far between and its once wholehearted Internationale has lost its conviction. As the 20th century draws to a close, many comrades have deserted the ranks to join the celebrations of Le Pen's National Front in front of the statue of Jeanne d'Arc, in the 1st arrondissement.

It was on the southern edge of the arrondissement, in the wretched Faubourg Saint-Antoine, that rumbling discontent was first channelled into the working-class consciousness and into organised action against exploitation. When word was spread on 28 April 1789 that Monsieur Reveillon, the painted-paper manufacturer on rue de Montreuil, was planning to reduce his worker's wages, the Faubourg Saint-Antoine rose up in a violent insurrection. Monsieur Reveillon had not anticipated such a reaction, for the lowering of wages he had intended was proportionate to the drop in the price of bread fixed by the authorities to ease social tension. His 400 workers had a different idea of fairness and Reveillon, terrified, ran for his life and sought shelter in the neighbouring Bastille, the ominous fortress looming west of the Faubourg. It took the intervention of the troops and a death toll of 30 to put down the revolt, but any wise ruler should have sensed that further trouble was brewing...

King Louis XVI had been hunting on 14 July. Upon his return he noted in his dairy, Aujourd'hui, rien ("Today, nothing"). The account Charles Dickens left of the day is somewhat different. "A tremendous roar arose from the throat of Saint Antoine, and a forest of naked arms struggled in the air like shrivelled branches of trees in winter wind: all the fingers convulsively clutching at every weapon or semblance of a weapon that was thrown up from the depths below...", from A Tale of Two Cities. Although the heroic storming of the Bastille boiled down in effect to nothing more than the liberation of the seven prisoners still detained there, the demolition of the formidable fortress was another story.

A wily charlatan called Palloy took charge of this arduous task, awarding himself the title of 'demolisseur de la Bastille' for the occasion. Disposing of the stones of the fortress proved even more arduous. Some were used to build the Concorde bridge, but what about many others? Palloy came up with the idea of chiselling miniature model Bastilles out of them, which he sold as souvenirs, not unlike the little Eiffel Towers we see today. In January 1790, 93 miniatures were offered as gifts to the newly created departements (districts) of France securing for Palloy a substantial profit. Palloy's patriotic activities connected with the Bastille took other forms as well. In June 1790 he oversaw the solemn burial of some old remains found in the prison's cells. The Bastille having proved a disappointment by failing to provide living proof of oppression, the dead of earlier times were pressed into service instead as victims of tyranny, their remains enjoying national recognition. A monument to them was erected, bearing a pompous inscription and also the Latin signature Petrus Franciscus Palloy, amicus patriae. When Louis XVI was executed in January 1793, Palloy the Patriot, turned chef for the occasion and concocted a dish which he named tete de cochon farci and which also allowed him to increase his revenue.

The politically symbolic demolition of the Bastille by the sans-culottes was fraught with unanticipated consequences. With the overthrow of both church and monarchy, it was the entire medieval edifice that was being challenged.

Some clain that the riots were instigated by the King's cousin, the Duc d'Orleans, later to become Philippe Egalite, in the hope of overthrowing the present dynasty and securing the throne for himself. Be that as it may, it was at the Faubourg de la gloire that the Revolution recruited its most determined troups of sans-culottes, with Santerre, Le Roi du Faubourg, the rich Flemish brewer of 11 rue de Reuilly riding on horseback at their head. His booming voice, reported to carry from Place du Trone to Parte Saint-Antoine, and his massive frame clad in a jacket with epaulettes, gave him an awesome presence.

The crowd loved him, especially when they were the beneficiaries of his largess, or rather that of the Orleanist party which was funded by the Duc d'Orleans. Having bartered their chisels and planes for pikes, they sported the red phryngian cap - symbol of liberty - and set out to annihilate the decadent aristocracy whose homes they had hithero been employed to adorn. Because they had been organised into a strong guild for several centuries, they had a deeper class awareness than other inhabitants of Paris, as a result of which the Fauborg became the focal point of all the successive insurrections that shook Paris during the social upheaval of the next 100 years - 1792, 1793, 1795, 1830, 1848 and 1871. The Faubourg had already witnessed fierce fighting during the Fonde, the princely revolt again young Louis XIV on 1 and 2 August 1652, a battle engaged on the high street between the supporters of the loyalist Turenne and of the rebel Conde, and watched by the King from one of the turrets of the Chateau de Charonne (now in the 20th arr.). Conde, in his turn, watched the battle from the church tower of the abbey. Mlle de Montpensier, La Grande Mademoiselle, the King's cousin and one of the instigators of the revolt, opened the gate of Saint-Antoine to the defeated rebels, to help them escape. It has been suggested that she had been intended as a wife for Louis XIV but that this misguided political step on her part cost here the throne.

In 1789, it was their own destiny the inhabitants of the Faubourg took in hand - and not the least the women - at least that is what the Montagnards , with Robespierre at their head, led them to believe. Well aware of their revolutionary spirit, Robespierre used their support to hound down the Girondins and the rich in their golden breeches. When the one-billion-franc loan was voted by the Convention on 20 May 1793 to save the bankrupt Republic, Robespierre stood up in their defense: 'you have an immense people of san-culottes ('without breeches'), very pure, very vigorous; they can not abandon their work. Let the rich pay.' Whether a sincere Republican or an imposter, Philippe Egalite, who had goaded them on at the onset, was among those sent to their deaths during the staged witch-hunt of autumn 1793. He was guillotined on 6 November 1793, less than a year after his cousin the King and three weeks after the Queen. But the Revolution did not live up to its promises and the disappearance of the aristocacy entailed the economic ruin of Faubourg Saint-Antoine. From 21,000 on the eve of the Revolution, the number of its inhabitants dropped to 15,000 in 1800.

It was on the Place du Throne (now Nation) that the Revolution took the heaviest toll. The name commemorated the throne erected on the site on 26 August 1660, on the occasion of the wedding procession of Louis XIV and Marie-Therese of Spain, which stopped there on its way from Vincennes to the Louvre. With the removal of royalty, it was now realistically renamed Place du Trone Renverse ('the overturned throne') and was picked up during the Terror as the site of the guillotine.

It is often assumed that there were three guillotines in operation, one at Place de la Revolution (Concorde), one a the Bastille and one a Place du Throne (Renverse). As a matter of fact there was only one guillotine, which was dismantled, shifted around and reerected according to circumstances. It was first transferred from Place de la Concorde to the Bastille, when, after the initial excitement, the inhabitants of the neighbouring Faubourg Saint-Honore became exasperated by its gory presence. The neighbours round the Bastille were just as opposed to its presence and had it removed further east, to the remote Place du Throne, where there were no neighbours and no-one to protest. 1,306 heads were chopped off at Place du Throne within just two months (15 June - 16 August 1794) and out of the 1,109 male victims 579 were commoners. The figures for the women are even more striking - 123 out of 197 were commoners. Among the victims were 108 monks and 23 nuns. Thus the 12th arrondissement was the place where, thanks to the 'national razor' , efficient productivity was applied to mass murder for the first time in history.

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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