The Wall

One thing I love about Paris is the way history is around every corner... yet no
one seems to make a big fuss. Maybe I am just a history geek, and I apologize if
this post bores you a little, but just down the road from our street is a wall that is
over 800 years old!

King Philip-Auguste who was born in 1214 recognized that Paris was a prime
target for surrounding enemies from England and Central Europe. So, he decided
to build a fortified wall that surrounded the whole city. The wall was 3 meters
thick at the base and over 9 meters high. He also built the Louvre at the same
time, to serve as a defensive palace.

The remenants of this wall have been intergrated into current buildings. It's like
people just decided to build around them! If we had something that old in
Australia, I imagine it would be fenced off and you'd have to pay to see it. Not in
Paris.

Here are some pictures of the two largest remaning sections of the wall. I just
found out you can actually walk around Paris and find about 15 more sections of
the wall in random places, like in underground car parks, and right next to
shopping centers and inside private homes.

The wall amongst other buildings. This is just around the corner from us.

This little sign is the only recognition the wall gets for being special!

Once the outskirts of the city, now a busy street.

Luke gets a history lesson with the wall in the background.

This is the longest stretch and goes for about 120m.

 

We had a great day wandering the streets, which made me realize I am yet to
post any pictures of our own street. This really is a shame, because our street is
just about the most authentic Parisian street around. Every time we tell people
who know Paris that we live in Rue Mouffetard, they are very jealous and can't
believe how lucky we are. Neither can I really! In the mean time, check out this
guy's blog. He has done a feature on our little street (in the first picture, our
front door is almost visible! We are on the left side of the road, just after the
green awning.) My own Mouffetard moments will be coming soon.