Around rue Mouffetard

With its history, myth and mystique, Rue Mouffetard is one of the oldest streets in Paris, a remnant of a roman road going to Rome via Lyon. The street retains a village atmosphere, with its famous picturesque open market held on the lower part. At the top end it leads into Place de la Contrescarpe which was made famous by Ernest Hemingway in his book about life in Paris. ‘A Moveable Feast’. Place de la Contrescarpe was not created until 1852 but has been a busy junction since time immemorable, the ‘village’ square of the neighbourhood, and the haunt of writers, artists and students.

In 1922 Hemingway and his young bride, Hadley, lived nearby at #74 rue Cardinal-Lemoine. Hemingway also rented a room to work in at #39 rue Descartes, he claimed it was the one in which Verlaine had died. From June to October 1921 James Joyce lived at #71, across the street where he finished writing “Ulysses”. # 39 Rue Descartes is where the celebrated symbolist poet Paul Verlaine lived until his death in 1896. He is buried in the church Saint-Étienne du Mont, to ‘rest forever’ in the same section of Paris where his career in both literature and debauchery began - the Latin Quarter.

The Japanese writer Kunio Tsuji who wrote “The Signore : Shogun of the Warring States“ among other works also lived in rue Mouffetard. His works were informed by an idealism that aimed at a higher plane of spiritual existence, and he produced a number of historical novels in which the protagonists search for the essential meaning of life at times of great social change. He died in 1999 in Japan at 73 years of age.

At the corner of rue Mouffetard and rue Blainville, where there is now a Haagen-Daaz ice-cream parlour, was a famous tavern, ‘La Pomme de Pin’, mentioned by Rabelais and frequented by the Rennaissance poets of ‘La Pléaide’ who had united to promote the French language. There were many taverns just beyond the city walls, of which the above was the most famous, as wine was untaxed and therefore cheaper outside the city’s walls.

At #4 rue Mouffetard, Madame du Barry, a favorite of King Louis XV, allegedly had an illicit affair with a young black boy named Zamor. When her indiscretions were discovered, Zamor was arrested and guillotined. In cruel irony, there is a painted sign dated 1748 and reading Au Negre Joyeux on the exterior of the building.

The origin of the name Mouffetard remains unresolved. One theory is that it originates from an old 18th-century French word, mofette, meaning a noxious smell. At that time, tanners and tripe butchers working in the area used the river Bièvre - itself long built over - as a sewer. Two golden oxen carved in bas-relief at #6, remain as a testament to these ancient trades. Before the 15th century, the borough of Sainte-Médard took pride in its vineyards and bucolic surroundings, but when the butchers, dyers and tanners took over, the presence of hot-tempered butchers and rowdy youths inebriated with cheap wine, brawls and scuffles were the daily and nightly lot of the area. In the early 18th century the authorities sensibly stationed the “gardes francaises” at # 36. The “garde republicaine” is now stationed at #61 which was a humble convent, built in the middle of the 17th century. By the early 18th century it was threatened with ruin and was rescued by the Madame de Maintenon.