one hundred and ten years ago in Paris

This was printed in Le Petit Journal on Sunday June 23, 1895 showing the expulsion of the 'zoniers' poor people who lived on the edge of Paris. The military were called to expel the poor and level the shanties from the 'zone' which were on the old walls of Paris. The Periphérique, the ring road, was built on top of it. The article asks 'Are these the enemy at our gates? Is the law too extreme and an extreme injustice?' Last Sunday this happened in Paris. The police evicted the poor and mostly Roma from the shanty town or 'bidonville' what was once 'le zonier' constructed on old rail tracks, 'le petite ceinture' at the edge of the Periphérique which was built on the old walls.

The BBC reported more than 350 Roma people had lived in the camp since mid-2015. Activists said many left early ahead of the police action which belongs to the national rail authority SNCF. France has one of Europe's toughest policies towards Roma. Most live in camps that are regularly demolished and every year thousands are deported. Amnesty International urged city authorities to find a lasting housing solution for those evicted in Paris - saying they would become homeless in mid-winter.

Bulldozers came and leveled the huts which were without water or heat.

What caught my attention was that in November I'd been driving on the Peripherique and saw the just opened Philharmonie de Paris, an amazing building the work of Jean Nouvel, from the ring road.

But then my eye caught on glints of light, people moving in this 'bidonville' among these shacks on the old tracks and the dichotomy hit me. One hundred and ten years later the poor people were evicted, their shacks torn down. Again. Cara - Tuesday

Not about accordions

I wanted to write about accordions - that instrument so evocative in French songs (and in many cultures) - and looked for my photo of the bright yellow accordion shop and studio below Montparnasse. But I couldn't find it. Instead a thread in the photos I discovered suggested vestiges of the past, lives lived and the architecture that remains.


A photo taken after a bombing during the London Blitz


The Grand Palais built for a World Exposition and used today for exhibitions

In the limestone tunnels of the old quarries under the Paris Observatoire - notice the graffitti 1671

remnants of stables that became workshops and garages

a Belle Epoque hotel by the artist's academy

the train track left of 'le petit ceinture' the train beltway that encircled Paris

outside a sculptors atelier
and this because it's the real reason I couldn't write about accordions

Cara - Tuesday