Next time you’re wandering through the 
streets of Paris, keep in mind that there may be more reason to keep an eye on what’s underfoot than just to avoid the presents left by the impressive canine population who are oftentimes more fashionably dressed than me these days. Across Paris, there are medallions scattered around the city sidewalks. My favorite was the Arago series, a set of somewhere around 130 medallions placed along the Paris meridian. François Arago was the astronomer who accurately calculated this meridian. The Paris meridian rivaled 
for many years with the Greenwich meridian for the international status as the Prime Meridian. (That dispute was resolved during the International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. in the 1880s, a conference from which the French abstained.) I was quite excited to discover not just one but two Arago medallions right by my house in the Cité U! This also means that I live just alongside an historically important meridian which is kind of cool.
Lately, I’ve discovered another set of medallions with another interesting story behind them. Everyone who knows Paris knows about the Seine, but have you ever heard of la Bièvre? This was a second river which ran through the 13th and 5th arrondissements pretty near where I live, ultimately feeding into the Seine. There are several theories as to how the river got its name, including from the actual word bièvre, old French for beaver; from beber, Latin for of the color brown; or from bibere, Latin for to drink. However, since 1912, the river has been covered
up within the city as it became horribly polluted and unsanitary as the city industrialized during the 1800s.
In
2001, a project was proposed to uncover and restore the river in a few sites in Paris. However, when the project outline was presented along with its budget, estimated at above 100 million euros, the French people took a step back and decided to reconsider. The architect Benoît Jullien had another idea. In 2008, a set of medallions and markers were placed around Paris to mark the path of la Bièvre. So far I’ve spotted markers from the river’s living path, its dead arm (which once headed to Le Marais, literally translated as The Swamp, Paris’s Jewish neighborhood, but was eventually filled in), and the "bras unique," the sole path of the river, presumably at points before this river split in two. So now you know, not only is the city rich in history readily apparent on the streets but also in the hidden stories below your feet.
streets of Paris, keep in mind that there may be more reason to keep an eye on what’s underfoot than just to avoid the presents left by the impressive canine population who are oftentimes more fashionably dressed than me these days. Across Paris, there are medallions scattered around the city sidewalks. My favorite was the Arago series, a set of somewhere around 130 medallions placed along the Paris meridian. François Arago was the astronomer who accurately calculated this meridian. The Paris meridian rivaled 
for many years with the Greenwich meridian for the international status as the Prime Meridian. (That dispute was resolved during the International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. in the 1880s, a conference from which the French abstained.) I was quite excited to discover not just one but two Arago medallions right by my house in the Cité U! This also means that I live just alongside an historically important meridian which is kind of cool.Lately, I’ve discovered another set of medallions with another interesting story behind them. Everyone who knows Paris knows about the Seine, but have you ever heard of la Bièvre? This was a second river which ran through the 13th and 5th arrondissements pretty near where I live, ultimately feeding into the Seine. There are several theories as to how the river got its name, including from the actual word bièvre, old French for beaver; from beber, Latin for of the color brown; or from bibere, Latin for to drink. However, since 1912, the river has been covered
up within the city as it became horribly polluted and unsanitary as the city industrialized during the 1800s.In
2001, a project was proposed to uncover and restore the river in a few sites in Paris. However, when the project outline was presented along with its budget, estimated at above 100 million euros, the French people took a step back and decided to reconsider. The architect Benoît Jullien had another idea. In 2008, a set of medallions and markers were placed around Paris to mark the path of la Bièvre. So far I’ve spotted markers from the river’s living path, its dead arm (which once headed to Le Marais, literally translated as The Swamp, Paris’s Jewish neighborhood, but was eventually filled in), and the "bras unique," the sole path of the river, presumably at points before this river split in two. So now you know, not only is the city rich in history readily apparent on the streets but also in the hidden stories below your feet.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteYour blog makes me miss Paris so much! I never knew about these Arago medallions and I was at Cite U also. It just reminds me how there's always something new to discover, no matter where you are. I want to go back so badly!!! Have a safe trip back home and happy holidays!
Ashley