Thispart of town isn’t as swanky as most of Paris. In addition to being the only area in which we saw the park benches occupied by bums, it was the only part of town in which I saw electronics and adult video stores.

Paultells me that this was not always the case. In the early 1900′s, this was a very popular neighbourhood among Paris’ upper middle class. The Gare du Nord train station was the big draw. In the day, few but the wealthy could afford to regularly take a train, and those who did moved into the neighbourhood for the convenience of easy access to the rail line.

The apartment spans virtually the entire fourth floor of the building, and would have likely been home to a wealthy factory supervisor. At one time, servants would have lived on the fifth floor. The top floor, in contrast to today, was considered the least desirable floor due to the fact that heat rises and air conditioners hadn’t been brought to France by until the late 1920′s by Willis Haviland Carrier. It’s rarely too hot in Paris, and with the noticeable lack of bugs, Parisians leave their floor to ceiling windows wide open to let the cool breeze in. Carrier never really made it big in France, it seems.

Paul fed Ann and me a lovely dinner of what was believed to be beef tenderloin, but turned out to be pork. That’s the problem with just recently becoming fluent in French: someone waves some meat at you and mumbles, and you just shrug and reply, “oui” and next thing you know you’ve got pork.

The Paris QTVR Portfolio:

• La Tour Eiffel, Paris
• Napoleon’s Apartments, the Louvre, Paris
• The Catacombs, Paris
• Gare Du Nord, Paris, France
• Saint Eustache, Paris
• Notre Dame Cathedral by Night
• Musee De La Poupee, Paris, France
• Paris at Night