Paris – Nevers on a Sunday

This peculiar building at the end of the Pont Neuf with its Palladian windows and columns surmounted by this immense Art Deco panel is very intriguing.

If you are facing Henry IV’s bronze statue on the Pont Neuf and look accross the bridge to the left you will see this building with its striking Art Deco frieze at the top.

Then you will probably do what everyone else does, say “Oh that’s nice” and walk away to the next wonderful sight.

The odd thing is that the arch in the middle of the building looks like it leads into the building itself but in fact it is the entrance to a hidden street which has retained much of its medieval character.

According to sources, the lane was opened in the 13th Century as a way to dispose of waste from a religious house, the College of St. Denis . Access to the lane was through two doors which led to the street’s original name of the “Two Doors”. The street originally ran alongside the now vanished Hotel de Nevers that was replaced in 1600s by the also sadly lost Hotel de Nesle.

If you like a glimpse into the narrow streets of a different era with pleasantly projecting building fronts with uneven walls and odd doors and windows, take a moment to wander in and up the Rue de Nevers, one of the odd survivors of pre-Haussmann Paris in the very heart of the city.