This is the entrance to rue Longue and the Old Town, from the eastern end, Porte Saint-Julien. You can see the entrance at the south-western end, Porte Saint-Antoine, by clicking on the link. Rue Longue (in fact 270 metres long) is the main street of the Old Town and follows the old Roman road, originally called the Via Aurelia.
This end of rue Longue has been restored but the chaos we saw yesterday (out of shot in this photo) will continue till at least until summer 2008. Originally it was thought that the work would take 13 months but unsurprisingly it will take longer. Some of the underground channels date back to the early 1900s and when dug up, it was discovered that more specialists were needed to put them right. All this work, which is a continuation of restoration of another road, rue de Bréa, is at a cost of 1.7 million euros.
Tomorrow I'll show you more of the restored part of rue Longue.
When I was in Europe in '89 - '90 I simply loved these types of streets, roads and business's. Although at one time the usa had interesting neighborhoods, now, only a few towns have been able to keep their charm and family type business's. The rest and seemingly a majority of people like to consume at big box stores and be forced to purchase inferior items.
ReplyDeleteYikes, sorry, I digress, this is a fantastic shot and I find it heartwarming that people somewhere want to keep and restore the past, rather than keep tearing down the new junk over and over that they build here.
Cheers!
Great scene. I can see myself walking down this road, going crazy with my camera at all the details!
ReplyDeleteWhere have I been, Jilly, to have missed this series on the Rue Longue. It's fascinating to see and read about the rehabilitation of this ancient construction.
ReplyDeletej'aime beaucoup ces longues rues tortueuses et étroites. c'est une bonne idée cette réhabilitation.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, this is a great start to my morning. The apartment we rented is in this picture just near the first light. Every morning I would walk through this gate and down the stairs to the boulangerie just past the Queen Victoria statue for fresh croissants. It is a great series. I'm looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteMarta speaks of fresh croissants and I look at this wonderful place and... I SO want to be there right now. :)
ReplyDeleteNice picture!
ReplyDeleteI like the rustic setting and the composition of the photo is excellent.
Alex
http://www.kakinan.com/alex
Superbe photo, merci!
ReplyDeleteAh, that's better. Such a beautiful street. I love the coach lights too.
ReplyDeleteI think walking these passageways would be forever fascinating.
ReplyDeletewonderful ! i love the feeling walking on this kind of streets . you could check my post from yesterday , it's something in the same "family" .
ReplyDeletethank you
Fascinating series which I've missed but I'll make up for it by back blogging. This entrance has "history" written all over it.
ReplyDeleteGreat pic-- the last pics with the hole was interesting too. but this one has romance.
ReplyDeleteGreat to finally get here puff! puff! have had to rub=n the length of Rue Longue to catch up with you - but it was a very intersting sprint!!!
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am a sadist(?), I think I prefer the other end!
ReplyDelete:D
Great series of photos--interesting to say the least. I'm so glad that you decided to take these photos and to share them with us.
ReplyDeleteIt amazing how well preserved these buildings and streets are over the year.
ReplyDeleteIt's admirable that they city is trying to restore them isntead of demolishing them.
The 3 colors of the stone is very nice. It looks like a nice place to walk!
ReplyDelete