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Yesterday we started our
walk in one of our favorite places, a corner of the 15th arrondisement called Place
Georges Mulot. This square and its surrounding streets have the charm of very best
of the 7th arrondisement, but are in the lower tax district of the 15th. If we were
ever to try to buy an apartment here, we'd try for this neighborhood in paradise. Georges Mulot was a famous physician. There are many large hospitals located in this part of Paris, including the Pasteur Institute. |
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As we step out of the quaint streets around the Place Georges Mulot, we are suddenly on one of those grand Haussmanian avenues, Avenue Breteuil, looking up toward the golden dome of Invalides. |
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We decide to walk over to the Luxembourg Gardens. To do this, we follow rue du Sevres for part of the way. Here's a sample of the kind of architectural detail that you can see almost everwhere along the way. This happens to be on some kind of national bank building. The 7th arrondisement is home to many stately institutions such as this. |
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I like the narrower, quieter streets in the 7th. This one is especially enticing. |
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As Paris grew, streets had
to be named and re-named, sometimes just to avoid confusion. On this building, you
can see the old street name still -- rue du Petit Vaugirard. This was undoubtedly
often confused with rue de Vaugirard, which is nearby, and which is also one of the
longest streets in Paris. Vaugirard was the name of a village outside of Paris; now it is part of the 15th arrondisment where we live in the summer. |
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As we continue our walk into the 6th arrondisment, we see more evidence of street name changes. |
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Old signs like these harken back to the days when most Parisiens were illiterate. The signs had to be visual and iconographic in order to communicate. This must have been for a tavern, because of the glasses. |