Friday, January 25, 2013
Memories of old Paris
I lived at 100 Rue du Temple in the Marais. Not far away was Les Halles, which had experienced the destruction of the market halls not long before. However, some good things then still existed before the slaughter of the neighbourhood increased in tempo.
One of these was the surviving market cafe, Aux Deux Saules, on the corner of Rue Rambuteau and Rue St Denis. From a hatch were dispensed cornets de frites, conical containers of chips, with or without a variety of saucisses , merguez, Toulouse sausages, Montbeliard sausages etc. The Cafe also served a wonderful onion soup, keeping alive a traditon of Les Halles where a warming bowl of this was very welcome to porters finishing their shifts. All of this is memorable in itself, but what made the cafe stand out were the two tableaux of ceramic tiles ( made at Sarreguemines, the inscription below read) depicting busy scenes from market life, one in the morning and one at market closure, in vibrant colours.
The cafe managed to last until 1985 but is now, I believe, a body piercing studio. What has happened to the tiles I do not know. It would be nice to think they have been preserved, but I hold out few hopes.
One of these was the surviving market cafe, Aux Deux Saules, on the corner of Rue Rambuteau and Rue St Denis. From a hatch were dispensed cornets de frites, conical containers of chips, with or without a variety of saucisses , merguez, Toulouse sausages, Montbeliard sausages etc. The Cafe also served a wonderful onion soup, keeping alive a traditon of Les Halles where a warming bowl of this was very welcome to porters finishing their shifts. All of this is memorable in itself, but what made the cafe stand out were the two tableaux of ceramic tiles ( made at Sarreguemines, the inscription below read) depicting busy scenes from market life, one in the morning and one at market closure, in vibrant colours.
The cafe managed to last until 1985 but is now, I believe, a body piercing studio. What has happened to the tiles I do not know. It would be nice to think they have been preserved, but I hold out few hopes.
Labels: Aux Deux Saules, French onion soup, Les Halles, Marais, Paris
