We have driven and walked in my eternal Paris, and would like to have an imprint in my blog on the wonderful family times we had there, There is so much to see , doing my best, and glad found me this picture in my cd rom vault ,which now transposing in my blog for you and me, This was my former worked city, so glad to post more memorable spots on it, I thank you for your readership over the years and to bear with my rants! After all Paris is to rant, shout and yelled about, me think. Therefore, here is my take on the Boulevard Haussmann of Paris !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The Boulevard Haussmann is located in the 8éme and 9éme arrondissements of Paris. It is 2,530 meters long, and crosses the Madeleine, Europe, Faubourg-du-Roule, Faubourg-Montmartre, and Chaussée-d’Antin quartier or neighborhoods, and connects to the intersection of Boulevard des Italiens and Boulevard Montmartre, where the Richelieu-Drouot metro station is located, to Avenue de Friedland, which extends it to the west.
This thoroughfare is named after Baron Georges Eugène Haussmann , a French administrator and politician who oversaw the transformation of Paris during the Second Empire (Napoléon III) as Prefect of the Seine. As part of his plan to transform Paris, Prefect Haussmann conceived this major traffic artery as a diagonal avenue connecting the inner ring of the Grands Boulevards to the outer ring of the Wall of the Farmers-General. To achieve this, he had to order the demolition of the house where he was born, on the corner of Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. However, the boulevard was not completed until well after his death. It was only in 1926 that Boulevard Haussmann, after some twenty years of construction, finally joined Boulevard des Italiens, thus eliminating the Passage de l’Opéra.
Notable buildings here are at No. 7: former headquarters of the Compagnie Française du Gramophone, which distributed the British record brands Columbia and His Master’s Voice in France. The painter Marthe Flandrin created a fresco in the post office here. This work was saved from destruction by the Musée des Années Trente in Boulogne-Billancourt in 1992. No. 14: headquarters between 2005 and 2023 of the Figaro Group, owner of France’s leading daily newspaper, Le Figaro. No. 16: Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel, which served as the headquarters of the eastern sector of Greater Paris under nazis occupation during WWII. No. 17: Former headquarters of the Banque Transatlantique. Headquarters of the Danone company. No 29 (see pic) between 1906 and 1908, this impressive Haussmannian building was built for the Société Générale bank on the site of seven adjoining buildings. It features a pediment adorned with allegorical sculptures representing the City, the River, and Mercury; on the third floor, six statues against the pilasters evoke Commerce and Industry. Inside, the central hall, topped by a magnificent dome over 23 meters in diameter, is particularly striking. No. 31: Building where Gustave Caillebotte and Martial Caillebotte lived after their mother’s death in 1878, until 1887 (after Martial’s marriage). Several paintings by Gustave Caillebotte depict the view from the apartment’s balcony; for example, Man on a Balcony (1880); Man on a Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann (1880); A Balcony in Paris (1881); and the interior, such as The Game of Besigue (1881). It is now the headquarters of Société Générale bank with main entrance at No. 29. No. 40: Galeries Lafayette Haussmann (see post). No. 64: Printemps Haussmann (see post). Chapelle Expiatoire and Square Louis XVI.(see post), No. 102: Marcel Proust moved into this building after the death of his parents on December 27, 1906, into a large six-room apartment on the second floor between the street and the courtyard, where he saw “the triumph of bourgeois bad taste.” He lived there until 1919 and wrote À la recherche du temps perdu or In Search of Lost Time, there.
At No 109 (see pic), the former stationery shop “A Shakespeare” now Armorial enjoys an unparalleled reputation as a master engraver and printer of invitations, personal stationery, and announcements, drawing on artisanal skills honed over generations. For over 70 years, a bronze statue of William Shakespeare, “with his head melancholically bowed and his cloak trailing on the plinth,” by the sculptor Paul Fournier, was erected in 1888 at the expense of William Knighton, a British national who lived in the corner building at 134 Boulevard Haussmann. It was melted down during WWII, and was never replaced. The memory of it has been preserved by the “A Shakespeare” stationery shop, located at 109 Boulevard Haussmann, on the corner of Rue d’Argenson.
In front of No 132, at the corner of Rue de Laborde: Monument to Baron Haussmann by François Cogné. At no 134, this building, which stands at the corner of Avenue de Messine, housed on the ground floor the shop of the tailor Sutton, specializing in livery for domestic staff. Geneviève Halévy moved into a large apartment on the mezzanine level of this building after her remarriage in 1886 to the lawyer Émile Straus, attorney for the Rothschilds. The spacious rotunda drawing room was adorned with paintings by Nattier, Quentin de La Tour, and Claude Monet, as well as a portrait of the lady of the house by Jules-Élie Delaunay (1876, now in the Musée d’Orsay). Madame Straus entertained every Sunday and acquired considerable influence in Paris. Among her guests were men of letters and artists such as Edgar Degas, Robert de Montesquiou, Lucien Guitry, Prince Auguste d’Arenberg, Countess Adhéaume de Chevigné, Princess Mathilde, Princess Edmond de Polignac, Countess Greffulhe, Duchess of Mouchy, Princess Murat, and Count Louis de Turenne. Marcel Proust, a friend and classmate of Jacques Bizet at the Lycée Condorcet, son of the composer Georges Bizet (who was Geneviève Straus’s first husband), met Charles Haas there, the future model for Swann. Geneviève Straus herself is listed as one of the models for Oriane de Guermantes, Nos. 158-158 bis: Jacquemart-André Museum.
The Paris tourist office on the Boulevard Haussmann : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/transport/boulevard-haussmann-p1994
The Paris tourist office on the shopping in the Haussmann Opéra neighborhood : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/haussmann-opera-the-heart-of-parisian-shopping-a348
The City of Paris on Baron Haussmann transformation of Paris : https://www.paris.fr/pages/haussmann-l-homme-qui-a-transforme-paris-23091
There you go folks, a dandy city to explore and enjoy with the family, Memorable moments in my eternal Paris, driving and walking all over in my road warrior trails brings out sublime awesome spots with nice memorable family visits of yesteryear always remember and always looking forward to be back, eventually. Again hope you enjoy the post on the boulevard Haussmann of Paris !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 