July 13, 2017

"He's not welcome here. You're in working class Paris now. He'll be at the Élysée, at the Eiffel Tower, he's not going to come here."

Said a Parisian man, interviewed by NBC, blogged here. So I thought I'd take today's virtual walk beginning at the place where NBC said this man was standing, which was the Barbes-Rochechouart metro station.

The Black Ball:

black ball

Pussy's:

pussy's

Royal Food:

clichy

30 comments:

Hagar said...

Looks a lot cleaner than I would expect Paris to be.

Ralph L said...

The signage looks disturbing English.

Yancey Ward said...

Ralph,

LOL! I was thinking the same thing- more English in those pictures than French.

Clyde said...

I decided to visit Pyongyang virtually today. There were more little blue circles for the 360 degree pictures than I expected. I have to say that Pyongyang is the ugliest city I've seen since visiting East Berlin back in the mid-80s, and for the same reason. It seems to consist mostly of enormous Soviet-style apartment blocks and government buildings and monuments. Vast empty concrete plazas in front of huge concrete monuments to communism and the Kim dynasty. Banks of lights to floodlight those monuments at night. The amount of expense and effort to celebrate the regime is mind-boggling. And of course, it's the only city in the country that even has electricity, as a night-image picture of North Korea shows. One blob of light between the DMZ and the Chinese border.

campy said...

A Google grab by Pussy? Tsk tsk, Althouse.

Static Ping said...

How much dog poop?

Bay Area Guy said...

How come the Left lacks basic manners? I've been to 2 Jesse Jackson meetings and have met Jerry Brown 5 times in my life, and I've never thought to cause a ruckus.

Just cuz you disagree, ya don't have to be rude.

robother said...

Chacun a son gout.

Michael K said...

When I was there a few years ago, I took photos of some of the homeless in Paris.

I know I was just a tourist but I thought it might be helpful if some elitist from Madison or some place said the US is the only place with homeless crapping on the streets.

It's not just the streets. I took my daughter and her cousins to Versailles on the RER train.

Between cars, there is a little vestibule thing. A bunch of newspapers lay on the floor and, when I looked at it, there was a pile of human feces in the newspapers. You'd think a train would have a restroom but I guess he/she couldn't wait

Google street view won't show you that, I'll bet. I showed them where not to step.

Ann Althouse said...

I thought it looked pretty nice for the bad part of town (which is what NBC said it was). The buildings seem very solid, and it looked clean and not run down. I selected things that had a little bit of a weird edge, but there were plenty of restaurants and cafés, and I stumbled into the Moulin Rouge.

Drago said...

If you can make it there you can make it anywhere.

Known Unknown said...

"I thought it looked pretty nice for the bad part of town "

It's not a Banlieue is it?

Drago said...

Um...tell me more about the...."gadgets".....

Ralph L said...

I stumbled into the Moulin Rouge

That's what they all say.

The windows look modern, but the hotel lets by the hour.

Sebastian said...

"he's not coming here" Of course, that could be said about any visiting US president. The fact that the MSM trot out this anecdote just reminds us, as if we needed reminding, of who they are and what they do.

Jim S. said...

Is Trump going to grab something at that club? You know, like a bite to eat or something? What? What did you think I meant?

DanTheMan said...

>>I thought it looked pretty nice for the bad part of town (which is what NBC said it was)

I've been past Pussy's many times. That's NOT a "bad part of town"; it's on Blvd de Clichy in Pigalle/Montmartre

The French do not have the same type of zoning that we have here. All along that section, you will find porn shops next to grocery stores, pharmacies, and respectable hotels.

Vive la difference!

Mr. Majestyk said...

Yes, I am sure when Macron visits the U.S., he will grab something to eat in Southeast D.C.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

To mark Trump visit, Althouse google grabs Paris by the Pussy. Outstanding!

tcrosse said...

English signage would never pass muster in Montréal.

damikesc said...

I decided to visit Pyongyang virtually today. There were more little blue circles for the 360 degree pictures than I expected. I have to say that Pyongyang is the ugliest city I've seen since visiting East Berlin back in the mid-80s, and for the same reason. It seems to consist mostly of enormous Soviet-style apartment blocks and government buildings and monuments. Vast empty concrete plazas in front of huge concrete monuments to communism and the Kim dynasty. Banks of lights to floodlight those monuments at night. The amount of expense and effort to celebrate the regime is mind-boggling. And of course, it's the only city in the country that even has electricity, as a night-image picture of North Korea shows. One blob of light between the DMZ and the Chinese border.

Watch Vice's multiple documentary trips to North Korea. It's uglier than you'd think.

Ambrose said...

"Working class Paris" - what a poseur. Does Springsteen sing anything in French?

rcocean said...

Its not the buildings that make the neighborhood dangerous or 'Scary'.

Etienne said...

"what a dump"

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

Here's the relevant text from NBC, which led me to explore this neighborhood: ""He's not welcome here. You're in working class Paris now. He'll be at the Élysée, at the Eiffel Tower, he's not going to come here," said Yacine Mac, who was standing outside the Barbes-Rochechouart metro station, a predominately north-African neighborhood."

Maybe that isn't meant to nudge you to think "bad neighborhood," but that's what it signaled to me.

AllenS said...

North African means people from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

David said...

That area is not working class Paris. Working class Paris is the suburbs nowadays. For Barbes-R think transients, cheap entertainments, grifters and hangers on. Lots of working people of course but that's not the stamp on the neighborhood.

The Barbes-Rouchechuart metro is just down the street from Gare du Nord, one of the major train stations. Gare du Nord is a great venue for panhandlers, pickpockets and petty thieves and seemingly a lot of people who want to make others uncomfortable if they can. Crappy hotels, lousy food, grifters and hookers abound. It's not terribly dangerous because the French police are abundant and aggressive. Also military and paramilitary. Stay on the Main Street though.

The metro station is the transfer point for two lines. One is above ground at that point, the other below. It's not one of the major transfer links but (again) lots of people just passing through.

On the hill above is Montmartre. It's where my stepdaughter lives so I know the area and have been in and out of the train and metro stations. Down the street is the Moulin Rouge, still raking in the bucks and now Euros in it's tattered faded glory. People going to Montmartre only get off at Barbes-R by mistake. It's one I've made. Most tourists get off at Pigalle, two stops down and near the furnicuarl to the top. (Montmartre is quite steep.)

Anyway you don't have to find the working class to find people who do not welcome Trump to Paris. It's pretty much universal.

Martin said...

Looks like Trump would be right at home, there; memories of Atlantic City casinos?

rcocean said...

I was fun climbing the stairs of Rue Foyatier. We were in Paris for a week, and we climbed them twice and went to the Orsay and the Louve twice too, even though we hadn't planned on it.

Of course, as "Jim" would say, that was when Paris was still Paris.