Les pavés
Madeleine (the church, not the Proustian kind!)
Cobblestones, the 10cm cubed granit version, are still used as a road surface in parts of central Paris. You would think that a nation which is so proud of its engineering and technical prowess would have moved on. But cobblestones are apparently still the best thing with which to pave the roads around the Madeleine church in the 8th arrondissement, for example, which is a pretty busy thoroughfare. I like that about the French, they don’t just stop using something because it seems out of date. They keep the best parts and improve the rest.
For years, I worked near Madeleine (as a Management Consultant), and the sound of warm tyres rolling over each stone is very evocative of when I walked to meet friends for lunch. On rue Tronchet, the cobblestones are laid in a fan pattern (see photo above), so they can even be stylish!
Cobblestones are also emblematic of French history.
At the end of the Franco-Prussion war, in late 1870, Napoleon III was taken prisoner, the Second French Empire fell and Paris was besieged by the Prussians for 4 months. The Third French Republic was formed, and due the siege of Paris, the new government was established in Tours (240km southwest of Paris).
During the siege of Paris by the Prussians, it was the working-class Parisians, not the regular army troops, who defended Paris. The radicalised National Guard played an important role in this defense, notably by forming large barricades out of whatever strong materials they could find. Of which, the cobblestones under their feet! This siege lasted from 19th September 1870 to 28th January 1871 when Paris surrendered to the Prussians. The political situation then lead to the creation of La Commune, a two month period (18th March to 28th May 1871) when Paris was governed separately from the rest of France. This time the cobblestone barricades were used to keep the French government and army of the Third Republic out of Paris. But that is a story for another day!
(photo of a barricade constructed by the Commune in April 1871 on the Rue de Rivoli near the Hotel de Ville. Photo by Pierre-Ambrose Richebourg via Wikipedia)
Cobblestones were also a symbol of the civil unrest and demonstrations in May 1968, when rebellious students used them against the police - again as barricades and also as projectiles. Who would have thought that these granite cubes, which weigh about 1,5kg, could have so many uses?
Les pavés de la cuisine française
‘Pavé’, pronounced ‘pav-ay’, is the French word for cobblestone. It’s also a word that you’ll find on menus in French restaurants (when we’re allowed to go back…). ‘Pavé de rumsteck’ - meaning ‘rump steak’ (which language inspired which?!), or ‘pavé de saumon’ for the salmon version. Can’t wait to go back to my favourite bistrots and have some. My mouth is watering at the very thought!
A couple of years ago I was generously invited us to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday at Le Grand Restaurant, Jean-François Piège’s gastronomic 2 Michelin starred restaurant. Naturally, I ordered the cryptic sounding ‘Langoustine cooked on a Parisian cobblestone’ (see the extract below of the menu that I cheekily asked to keep as a souvenir). I was delighted when presented with a genuine pavé cobblestone, cleaned up, heated in the restaurant’s oven all day, and with beautiful sizzling fresh langoustines cooking on top of it! No photo, unfortunately, as I had to eat it quickly, but it was as memorable as it was delicious!
Extract of the dinner menu at Le Grand Restaurant, April 2018
Le Paris-Roubaix
A cycling aficionado friend, tells me that I cannot write about cobblestones without mentioning the famous cycling race, Le Paris-Roubais. This one-day race starts north of Paris and finishes in Roubaix near the Belgian border. The race is particularly famous for its rough and notably cobbled roads. The winner of the race is presented with a mounted cobblestone. A worthy prize indeed!