In previous blogs, I have mentioned certain museums for various reasons. One that I often mention is the Musée Carnavalet. After two thousand years, Paris certainly has plenty of history to fill a lot of buildings (or underground bunkers), satisfy the interests of every professional or amateur historian, and provide a peek into mainstream or quirky historical events.
Today, I thought I’d share with you some of these Paris museums. Click here to visit the Paris Info web-site. I haven’t covered all the historical museums in this blog, but I did pick the ones I enjoy visiting and ones that are often overlooked. I will start with the three museums that, in my opinion, are the most interesting. I would consider them to be “general” museums as opposed to ones dedicated to a singular topic or event. Read More Paris History Museums
Did you know that the first photograph taken with people was in Paris? Louis Daguerre used his new technique called Daguerreotype to take the photo in 1838. It was called “Boulevard du Temple.” Despite the street being extremely busy with pedestrians and a lot of traffic, only two individuals showed up in the photo—someone shining the boots of a man. The exposure time necessary was more than 10 minutes and so those 2 individuals must have stood relatively still for that time to be captured.
Palais de Justice – Conciergerie. Photo (c. 1853-70). Charles Marville. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
Charles Marville (1813–1879) was one of the early photographers in Paris. His photographs of Paris in the mid-1800s are the best representations of the streets and buildings prior to their destruction by Napoléon III and Baron Haussmann. Many of his photos give you a good sense of what medieval Paris might have looked like (i.e., narrow streets, houses, workers such as the tanners, and streets used as the sewer). Many of Paris’s historically significant buildings were demolished over a 22-year period as Napoléon III carried out his vision of modernizing the city.
Marville was born Charles-François Bossu. He changed his name to Charles Marville in 1837 presumably since his last name, Bossu, means hunchback. Right about the same time, Victor Hugo published The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1837 (was it really a coincidence he changed his name at that particular time?).
Monsieur Marville was named in 1862 as the photographe de la ville or photographer of the city. In this capacity, he began a series of official photographs called Le Vieux Paris (Old Paris) that captured certain parts of the city—buildings and streets—before Haussmann demolished them. This album of work consisted of approximately 450 photographs. They encompass his work over a 7-year period ending in 1869.
Urinoir en ardoise à 3 stalles, Chaussée du Maine. Photo (c. 1865). Charles Marville. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
It is likely that many of Marville’s early photographs were destroyed. The city of Paris would have owned his photos and since the Hôtel Carnavalet (today, the museum of Paris) was undergoing renovations at the time, the collection of photos would have been held at the Hôtel de Ville (city hall). When the Hôtel de Ville was destroyed by fire during the Commune in May 1871, the photos would have perished (along with much of the written documentation of the French Revolution).
Charles Marville and his collection of old Paris photographs would not be discovered until the 1980s. Today, they are part of the collection held by Roger-Viollet (6, rue de Seine) and loaned out to museums around the world for special exhibitions. This is the photographic agency owned by the city of Paris. It owns, controls, and licenses almost all the official photos of Paris, photos of the relics held by the city owned museums, and other related photographs.
If you enjoy the historical aspect of Paris, don’t miss one of the Charles Marville photography exhibitions that come to your town. I know I won’t.
Do we have a lot of stories? Of course we do. I’m looking forward to sharing these with you. Please continue to visit our newsletter and blog. Perhaps you’d like to subscribe so that you don’t miss out on the most recent newsletter and blog posts.
Thanks so much for following my newsletter and blogs as well as my little journey through this incredibly interesting process of writing a series of niche walking tour books based on European historical periods or events.
– Stew
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“Informative and entertaining, Stew Ross’ newest work evokes a difficult and frightening time in the history of the City of Light. The detailed descriptions of sites such as the Vél’ d’hiv’ or Gestapo headquarters reminds us of the choices people made during those years.”
Cynthia Bisson, PhD, Professor of History, Belmont University, French Resistant Expert
Mr. Ross brings the streets of Paris to life, making it possible for you to stand on the very spots where the grand and tragic events of the French Revolution took place. If you are looking for more than just the typical tourist experience in Paris, then this book is must reading!
