Oh well they did it after all. For years folks have been telling me where is the center of Paris! From the visitor point of view, you know which is it, all around the Notre Dame, Louvre etc. However, Paris has more under the sleave and politically correct they finally have done it. There is officially a Paris Centre!
And do you know Paris now has a center? Well people always asked for the center of Paris and frankly with the limits of its districts or arrondissement it was difficult. Each district was independent with its own main streets or downtown/center. However, that is beginning to change thanks to the political manouvers which is heavy in Paris.
Last July 2020, the 1st sector of Paris called Paris Centre was created comprises the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th arrondissements or districts of Paris. All under one Mayor, the first one Ariel Weil, a Socialist of course.
The reform, which applies from the day after the second round of the 2020 municipal elections, does not eliminate the first four districts but groups them together in a single administrative and electoral sector. This sector has a council and a district mayor common to the four districts. The number of councilors in Paris is unchanged. Very politically convenient indeed, why create one whole group keeping everybody on the payroll!!!
The territory of the City of Paris must therefore be divided into 17 sectors (the four old districts makes one sector) , superimposing on the 20 current arrondissements or districts. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th arrondissements are grouped into a single sector called Paris Centre, created during the municipal elections of March 15 and June 28, 2020 and the election of its new Mayor on Saturday July 11 2020.
The postal codes remain the same with the grouping of the 4 central districts. It is not useful to mention Paris Centre on postal items. Of course, you still need to use in your post the 75001 ,002, 003 and 004. The changes like I said are just political.
Since Monday, July 13, 2020, users of the four former arrondissements are welcomed in their Paris Centre city/town hall, located at 2, rue Eugène-Spuller. You can get here by metro,on line 3 Temple or lines 3;5;8;9; and 11 République. Also, by bus line 75 stop Square du Temple, line 20 stop Arts et Métiers and line 91 stop Jean-Pierre-Timbaud. By bicycle you have parking right in front of building or Vélib station at mairie du 3émearrondissement.
The new Paris Centre city/town hall on the culture page: https://mairiepariscentre.paris.fr/culture
The question of central Paris is a long topic of conversation but the official point of view is as follows:
Two different points can be considered as the geographical center of Paris , and only one of them is in the new Paris Centre district! Of course, nothing on geography is political!! According to the National Geographic Institute, responsible for producing and disseminating reference geographic information in France, the surface center of gravity, a barbaric name for the center of the surface of Paris is located at the tip of the île de la Cité island at Place Dauphine 75001. But if you are interested in the limits of Paris , in other words if you take into account its perimeter and no longer its area ,the center of Paris is much further to the east. Indeed, it is then near the Place de la Bastille, at 9 rue Lacués, in the 12éme. The reason ? The presence, to the West and to the East, of the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, which prevents Paris from being the beautiful oval shape that we all imagine at first!
This is a brief copy of my previous posts on the arrondissement or districts of Paris on the four now making up Paris Centre!
Briefly, by 1860, Paris was divided into 20 arrondissements or districts of which each was further divided by fours into a total of 80 quartiers or neighborhoods. Example, on the 1 district (1éme arrondissement) the four quartiers or neighborhoods of which all will have the zip/postal code 75001 will be Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois quartier no 1, Halles quartier no 2, Palais-Royal quartier no 3, and Place-Vendôme as quartier no 4. And so on and on until 75020.
By the way , Parisians of birth or long standing will give you the district as the place of orientation and administrative affairs but when living or errands or know it all, is the neighborhood!
Paris 1 : This is the forum les Halles,Arc du Carrousel,church of Saint Eustache,Jeu de Paume,Louvre,Orangerie, Conciergerie, Sainte Chapelle, Palais Royal, Jardin des Tuileries, and the Place Vendôme.
Paris 2 : This is Bibliothéque Nationale, Bourse,tour Jean Sans Peur.
Paris 3 :This is the Archives Nationales, Arts et Métiers,Carnavalet museum,Picasso museum,amongst others.
Paris 4: This is the Arsenal,Centre Pompidou, Crypte de Notre Dame,church saint louis saint paul,hotel de ville,memorial de la shoah, Cathedral of Notre Dame, and tour Saint Jacques.
There still discussing of what to do with the old building of the city halls , some places will remain and other will need to be change or house more administrative duties, a good political move to fatten the pockets. The mairies or city hall govt building in each arrondissement are done in touch with the local architecture of each. The Paris 1 has it after the Church Saint Germain l’Auxerrois next to the end of the Louvre. Paris 2, is done in 1847 after opening the rue de la Banque, inside a mariage hall done in 1879 decorated with the 3rd Republic emblems. Paris 3 was the first done with an initial space virgin, looking more like a renaissance castle with Doric columns and clock evoking Chambord. Paris 4 done with column first realized for the Chateau des Tuileries (today gone extension of the Louvre).
The Paris tourist office on the welcome center for info and ticketing etc in Paris: https://en.parisinfo.com/practical-paris/paris-convention-and-visitors-bureau/welcome-centres
And to plan your walks in Paris by district or neighborhood what is better than the tourist office in English, the best official source: https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/walks-in-paris
They still have not figure it out the tourist points for Paris Centre of course!!! Hope you enjoy a different Paris by the time we can get back. Hope you enjoy the post and thanks for reading me over the years.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 