Paris - Les Halles - 1er

Plate XXI - The old Les Halles ...

Les Halles has unintentionally come to be an important centre of my visits to Paris; somehow whenever I am lost (it fortunately still happens) I seem to land up here – and then again I know where I am. The main Metro and RER station serving the area is Chatelet–Les-Halles. It was here that I needed to make my first train changeover on my arrival from Orly, and where I stupidly took a line bound for Boissy instead of Poissy hoping to get myself to Nanterre. It was here too that my life was (figuratively) saved during a subsequent visit to Paris for the biannual Paris Motor Show (the Salon Mondiale at Porte de Versailles). My camera battery (I was by then using reasonably decent digital kit) had gone dead overnight and the only agent I could find in the city carrying spares was in the centre at the Forum des Halles. It is not the Parisians’ favourite landmark apparently, but I love the constant buzz around the Forum.

This area is named for the original site of the large wholesale market established here. I always think of it (possibly wrongly) as Paris’ answer to London’s Covent Garden, but with a richer life. The old market was sadly demolished in 1971, but this iron and glass arch reminds the visitor of what was here before. Originally established in the time of King Philippe Auguste II in 1183 Les Halles was known as ‘le trou (the hole) des Halles’ and also as ‘the stomach of Paris’. The design of the new forum was controversial (stop me if you’ve heard that before) and there are perpetual discussions about remodeling the area. Considering it’s proximity to the Centre Pompidou I personally find its design rather pleasing as well as complementary to that centre.

Behind the arch to the image left is the knave of the church of Saint-Eustache.