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Paris
Known as a boring neighborhood for wealthy bourgeois, the 16th
district is actually one of the most interesting quarters of Paris for
architecture lovers.
Here is the map (the Bois de Boulogne, partly represented on the
left, is larger than the urban part of the district)
17th
#################/ PtM__
## Bois ###### ``-------AdT
###############/ | ChE
### de #######/ AvF \
#############/PtD | 8th
# Boulogne #/ _.------Al---
###########/ / ____________
###########/ Tr/ /
##########/ / /
#########/ JR / / EiT
########/ /e/ 7th
########/ /n/
########/ RF /i/
#######/ /e/ .------------------.
######/ LF /S/ | ### : woods |
######/ / / | |
#####'R-G / / | |---------| |
####|PtA PtM | 0 1km |
####| / / | |
###' / / | N |
| / / | | |
| PdP / / 15th | W --+-- E |
| / / | | |
| / / | S |
\ PtSC / / |__________________|
-----/ /---
Boul / /
Everything in italics is outside the district. It's the
6th most populated district with 161,773 inhabitants in 1990. It's
also the second largest (7.85 km2, not including the Bois
de Boulogne).
A good way to enter the 16th district is to walk across the Seine
on Pont Bir-Hakeim. On the middle of the bridge, you may remember
Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider in "Last Tango in Paris":
several sequences were shot here, under the elevated metro.
Another way is to cross the Seine on the same bridge, but on the
elevated metro. Then you can notice two kinds of behaviours among
the passengers: the tourists nudge their neighbours saying "Look, the
Eiffel Tower!", while the Parisians keep reading their newspaper or
watching their feet.
Indeed, the major landmark in the area is the Eiffel
Tower. Although it belongs to the 7th district
on the left bank, it is visible from a large part of the 16th
district. The best point of view on the Eiffel Tower is from
Trocadéro, a hillock with a garden and a palace on the top. The
palace hosts several museums.
The northern part of the district is made of well-designed avenues
that converge to Place de l'Etoile, the biggest crossroads in Paris
. Avenue Foch is the largest street in Paris, and the most expensive
place to live.
The rest of the district consists in two former villages, Passy and
Auteuil, now pleasant quarters.
Auteuil, in the southern part of the district, is very
interesting for its architecture. Unfortunately, it is impossible to
enter large residential areas known as villas, : Villa
Montmorency, Villa de la Réunion, Hameau Boileau, and you can only
peek from the outside.
But the streets offer many surprises. My favorites are the
buildings by Hector Guimard, the most prominent French Art Nouveau
architect. Stone is sculpted in free forms, and balcony wrought iron
is both light and extremely elegant. See the extravagant Castel
Béranger at 14, rue la Fontaine, and many other buildings in the
neighborhood (1)
While Paris contains relatively few parks, it contains two
woods. While Bois de Vincennes belongs to the 12th district, Bois de Boulogne occupies the western half
of the 16th district. It's a nice place to walk on Sundays. It
contains two racecourses: Auteuil and Longchamp. Jardins de
Bagatelle will be of interest for flower lovers. Jardin Shakespeare
reproduces landscapes from the Bard's plays. Grande Cascade, near the
Longchamp racecourse, is an artificial waterfall.
(1) my private list of Guimard houses:
- Metro Michel-Ange Auteuil : 14, 19-21 and 60, rue la Fontaine; 9,
rue du Père-Brottin; 11, rue F.Millet.
- Metro Chardon-Lagache: entrance of Villa de la Réunion (41, rue
Chardon-Lagache) and 42, avenue de Versailles (angle of rue Lancret)
- Metro Ranelagh or Jasmin : 18, rue Heine; 122 and 125, avenue
Mozart