Rue des Rosiers in the Marais
 

I made a photo report about rue des Rosiers the other day for a rather unfortunate reason -- because I believe that it has just about lost all of its character and appeal. When I arrived in Paris more than 35 years ago, people were already regretting that the old Jewish areas of central Paris were just never the same after the war, but rue des Rosiers kept up the illusion with black hatted men with big beards and earlocks going about their business up and down the street, and all of the commerces with their signs in Hebrew. The Jo Goldenberg restaurant was always packed, and falafel vendors had not invaded the street.

It was around the mid-1980's that the coup de grâce was delivered to the street, probably because the terrorist attack at Goldenberg in 1982 made a lot of people afraid to go to rue des Rosiers. The old boutiques were taken over by clothing stores, and even the famous hammam closed to be converted to the sale of textile.

The street has been prettied up and still makes for a nice stroll when one is in the Marais, but the soul has disappeared. The big Jewish district is in the 19th arrondissement now, and the center has been left to the tourists. Nevertheless, a few tiny scraps of local color are better than none at all, so here is my small report: http://tinyurl.com/ruedesrosiers

Thanks kerouac, I have never been there, I have to go next time I am in Paris. Soon I hope.

Mahalo, kerouac (thanks in Hawaiian). Always love your little vignettes.

Leburta

I agree with you Kerouc. It just chain shops, boring clothes and there is a little pocket at the end which is still Jewish. I guess we reap what we sow. People like chain shops, junk food places so this replaces the more authentic local places.
Really is a shame.

I would be interested in hearing (and seeing) more about the area in the 19th that you mention. Is there anything about it that is particularly interesting and distinct or is it just a residential neighborhood where there is a large Jewish community?

Well, there isn't anything touristy about the Jewish neighborhoods in the 19th. Many people in the community just live in housing projects built in the 1970's and 1980's (particularly in the avenue de Flandre/rue Riquet area) or else in ordinary non-Haussmannian buildings around rue Petit near metro Laumière. Of course there is also the Belleville corner of the 19th arrondissement, home to the Tunisian Jewish community, which is a bit more colorful. But of course Belleville has already been discussed in many threads as a fascinating ethnic mix of Jews, Muslims, Chinese and even ethnic French all living together in relative harmony (in spite of some recent disturbing reports about attacks on the Chinese community).

I forgot to mention avenue Corentin Cariou at Porte de la Villette, which is home to the Kosher wholesale butchers and a number of other very large Kosher stores.

Very interesting to see the street deserted and then with all the activity. I think Chez Marianne looks very charming.

I am very interested to finally see Sarah's Key; the book was really good and so very sad.

Funny about the Lenny Kravitz thing...I see that the celebrity endorsement is alive and well even in Paris. I did see Lenny in front of Cartier right before Christmas last year, with no falafel in hand. :-)

Hi K,

Thanks, again, for a visit to Paris.

>The big Jewish district is in the 19th arrondissement now,...<

Have you got an address?

((I))

PS,

Belay that last request. :)

The street is just a short distance from our last stay in Paris in 2009. Walked through it a couple of times. Thanks for the shots and the history.

I was there three years ago and Goldenberg's was shuttered. Once when ate there many years, there were many men there with their nieces. About two weeks later Goldenberg's was
machine gubbed by terrorists or the wives of the men.

Here is an excerpt from my most recent trip report:

I still had not found the center of the Marais, so I decided to follow the falafel. People with pitas were getting thicker and thicker, onions and sauce dripping everywhere
The culprit was L’As du Falafel with a line down the rue de Rosiers. It is supposedly the best on the planet but I had just eaten and I have never had a Jones that bad for falafel. I went into two Kosher bakeries to bring something back to the room for later. In one I purchased the moistest onion roll and an almond stick, the other a poppy seed strudel. You really have to like poppy seeds to eat this. One bit and you will fail every drug test for the rest of your working career.

I wanted to speak about the people who worked there about the neighborhood and anti-semitism but one guy was busy, one young woman only spoke French, and one old man looked like the Dustin Hoffman character from Papillion after he lost his mind. Maybe I will go back another day.

The neighborhood is filled with museums and decaying buildings but I was looking for Place des Vosges. The relatively small square is perfect and conveys a serenity even though it is filled with children trying to kick pigeons and hoards of tourists marching purposeful to their next assignment. It is protected on all four sides by brick and stone pavilions with a 400 year history. I wanted to visit the Victor Hugo Museum but jetlag was winning. I have always thought it was amusing that Les Miserables, a work about oppression and injustice was made into a musical. “Da, da, da ta, da, we’re going to chop off your head, if you aren’t already dead.” Hugo always needed money so he may have approved. But I am guessing he would not have liked the nickname Les Miz, which is like calling the people who sleep on gratings The Home.

No reason to avoid r. des Rosiers, but it's true that it is a shadow of its former self. Plenty of local colour to be seen in the neighbourhood if you're there at the right time but mostly just tourists to be seen. If you like falafel, it's a great place to go, but is that a good enough reason?

The restaurant was finally shut down for health violations!!
I loved the neighborhood, staying there for two week one year.

http://www.secretsofparis.com/st-paul-marais-district/

this takes you around the area. jo goldberg was closed many times for health violation codes.

I'm not sure I see a conflict between falafels and Jewishness. L'As du Fallafel seems to be the leading source of falafels in the rue des Rosiers, and it also seems to be very Jewish (and certified kosher).

I do see more and more clothing stores on the street. Sad to see Jo Goldenberg's turned into another nondescript clothing store, but the delicatessen did have a lot of health violations.

There are views of the rue des Rosiers starting at 5:46 in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Au2aFMz-xU

It still has a nice atmosphere, and tasty things to eat, and a few shops that specifically cater to a Jewish clientèle.

I'm not sure I see a conflict between falafels and Jewishness. L'As du Fallafel seems to be the leading source of falafels in the rue des Rosiers, and it also seems to be very Jewish (and certified kosher).
__________
It is a Serphadic dish, which are Jews originally from Spain and Portugal and later Northern Africa.

Ashkenazi Jews are from Central and Eastern Europe and their food is what was served at Goldenberg's, at least the more expensive version.

Oh well, Sephardic, Ashkenazi, whatever, as long as it tastes good.

I think the street has a charm that is independent of Judaism, although those remaining businesses that are still "Jewish" add to the atmosphere. It will probably remain a charming street even if its specifically Jewish character fades into history, especially if it continues to offer good food.

I'm not keen on the general trend towards overpriced clothing stores everywhere (a trend that extends beyond the Marais, unfortunately), but there seems to be no stopping it. Only these stores can pay ever-increasing rents, apparently.

I think that remodeling the street to discourage vehicular traffic was a good move, although it looks a bit like a jungle at the eastern end. I don't know why local merchants opposed it.

Loved looking at your photos Kerouac. I never tire of photos of Paris.
2 years ago we walked the area and saw many black hatted men with long earlock strands. We also saw many stalls along the streets with lemons and what looked like 1 metre sticks of sugar cane.
We did enjoy walking the streets and lanes.

Interesting, kerouac. I had included a not-so-flattering description of Rue des Rosiers in my trip report (a day I wrote about a week or so ago, but haven't posted yet). I was disappointed for many of the reasons you mention here, but was wondering if it just depended on the time of week or day. Like analogue said, maybe there's plenty of local color at the right time and I just hit it wrong.