Paris - Clignancourt - 18e

Plate XCV - Clignancourt - Flea Market …

Somehow ‘flea market’ does not do justice as a translation for ‘le Marché aux Puces de la Porte de St-Ouen’. It also does not convey any sense of the incredible sense of impending discovery of treasure that I felt immediately on arrival in the environs of the Porte de Clignancourt. Leaving my hotel on the Metro in the fairly early morning, I had shared a compartment with a number of women who looked remarkably like extras from the set of Irma la Douce. Not something unexpected as these nocturnal working inhabitants of the area returned from what I guessed had been another night ‘sous les ponts de Paris’. The Marché aux Puces (which some claim gave all ‘flea markets’ their name) is actually a number of adjoining markets, and typical of such trading places you will find everything from absolute rubbish to some of the most beautiful antiques imaginable. Of course the high end stuff is better displayed (and better guaranteed) in the Rue de Rivoli at the Louvre des Antiquaires, but there you know you’re going to pay top dollar, and the chances of unearthing an undervalued bargain are less than zero. In Clignancourt I browsed amongst vintage (and not so vintage) car parts and hardware, through clothing, music stalls and ultimately moved on to the antique dealers, where Lalique and Daume vases competed to catch the eye with elaborate crystal chandeliers, and that uniquely continental-European fourteen carat gold jewellery. It was here that a London based friend of mine began a lifelong infatuation with antique Toiles de Jouy, trade in which eventually became his business. Intimidated as I was by the sheer numbers of traders’ stalls and their volumes of merchandise I browsed for hours, determined not to buy anything until I had a good idea of all that was available. I landed up leaving empty handed but determined to return.

I know my weaknesses - I never did.

Paris - The Arc de Triomphe - 7me

Plate LXVIII - The Arc de Ttriomphe…

I believe that two images most strongly define Paris in the eyes of the world - the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Perhaps through having seen in my schooldays those fractured, aging 1945 newreels of the victorious Charles de Gaulle entering a newly liberated city; or perhaps because of a lifelong fascination with Napoleon and his military prowess - this was the one particular sight I had waited for so many years to see.

For whatever reason, to me this is Paris, and Paris is the Arc de Triomphe. Prepared for disappointment by previous visits to many other celebrated world sights and landmarks, which always seem smaller than their reputation would have you expect, could the Arc de Triomphe be all that I needed it to be?

Having arranged these images by arrondissements they are not in the sequence I visited them. After time at La Défense I had taken the RER from Nanterre to Etoile. Rising through this underground mystery, that was still so new to me, to the midway Metro station and then not sure which exit to take, I fortuitously selected the escalators that rise to the very foot of this magnificent landmark. The hairs on my arms began to rise as I caught my first glimpse of the stonework carvings that decorate the Arc. Little by little, more and more was revealed – seemingly as if in slow motion. And then … there it was!

A giant Tricolore suspended in the centre of the arch greeted my arrival in Paris.

I was here at last, and I was most definitely NOT disappointed.