Bravo for another well-researched article about old Paris. You might find “La Zone” a gripping song by Frehel, a popular singer among Parisian working classes in the 1930s, of interest.
I remember studying the lyrics with my French students a few years ago.
The great Georges Brassens also dedicated a song to La Zone in “La Princesses et le Croque-Notes.”
Thank you, Véronique! I kept seeing references to or photos of ‘les zoniers’ for months and I wanted to shine a little light on this group. Thanks for the song recommendation - I will look them up!
I loved this article, it's one of your best! I did not know about "la zone", but the expression is used in French to this day. "C'est la zone" means that a neighborhood is unsavory, and perhaps a little dangerous.
Yes, I saw this referenced in some of my research. It's not a very nice way to describe someone - and unfair to the real zoniers who had to cobble together a living.
Indeed, and rarely used by the younger generations, but still used by veteran rapper Joeystarr (who grew up in tough social housing in 1980s Saint-Denis) in this clip where he describes how his own “zonard” look eventually became co-opted by mainstream fashion brands (at 2:15) : https://fb.watch/yRf65kKZcS/
Many Substacks! The poorer banlieues are indeed the modern equivalent. Workers there are not chiffonniers but municipal garbage collectors, nurses, janitors, delivery people, construction workers, nannies, commuting long distances very early into central Paris to make the richer neighbourhoods function. As I often say, Paris hasn’t been about “Left Bank vs. Right Bank” for 50+ years. It’s about center vs. periphery. (And if one really needs to split intra-muros in two, it’s about west vs. east)
Yes, and there's the verb too. "A l'époque, il zonait avec des mecs pas trop clairs..." I'll have to look up the origin of the word, which is used in English too.
Indeed! "Zoner" is the closest thing I could find to "loitering" in French as we don't really have that concept (public space is public), so we need to summon a criminal image to make something sound worse than "traîner"
Great post! Some of the poor were indeed displaced, because Haussmann’s renovation also had a political goal: ridding the city center of its anarchist element. Many settled in Belleville and of course in the infamous « zone. »
Thanks, Allison! You make a great point re: Belleville. I did make a small mention of it in a previous Substack about old modes of transportation that brought workers from that neighborhood (so remote back then!) into the city. Have a read if you're interested:
Nice piece! A couple of small things to fix, tho. First, Adolphe Thiers didn't design the enceinte; he approved of it, as President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Thiers later became notorious for his hasty retreat to Versailles during the Commune in 1871, and then for the brutal week-long massacre of the Communards he ordered upon his return. But that's a story for another day. Second, it was Nappy III, Nappy I's cousin, who commissioned Haussmann's reconstruction of Paris. Not Nappy II, Nappy I's son, who died of TB at 21 in 1832..
Thank you for these clarifications. It takes village to perfect a Substack! I shall update this piece using your suggestions - much appreciated and I'm really glad you enjoyed reading it.
Bravo for another well-researched article about old Paris. You might find “La Zone” a gripping song by Frehel, a popular singer among Parisian working classes in the 1930s, of interest.
I remember studying the lyrics with my French students a few years ago.
The great Georges Brassens also dedicated a song to La Zone in “La Princesses et le Croque-Notes.”
Thank you, Véronique! I kept seeing references to or photos of ‘les zoniers’ for months and I wanted to shine a little light on this group. Thanks for the song recommendation - I will look them up!
Fascinating article!
Wow! Fascinating. That documentary is astonishing. What a gem! Thanks for the history lesson.
This was fascinating. I had no idea. Thank you very much.
Merci, Jenn, c'était fascinant.
Merci, Lynne! J’espère que tu vas bien. xo
Plus ou moins. Et toi? Où es-tu maintenant? Que fais-tu?
Wow, very interesting!
Fascinating—and I highly recommend Justinien Tribillon’s “The Zone: An Alternative History of Paris” for anyone interested in further reading.
Thanks for the tip, Lauren! I think I barely scratched the surface with this topic, so this is helpful!
I loved this article, it's one of your best! I did not know about "la zone", but the expression is used in French to this day. "C'est la zone" means that a neighborhood is unsavory, and perhaps a little dangerous.
Indeed, and the derogatory term "zonard" is still used by some to designate poor people with a rough appearance.
Yes, I saw this referenced in some of my research. It's not a very nice way to describe someone - and unfair to the real zoniers who had to cobble together a living.
Indeed, and rarely used by the younger generations, but still used by veteran rapper Joeystarr (who grew up in tough social housing in 1980s Saint-Denis) in this clip where he describes how his own “zonard” look eventually became co-opted by mainstream fashion brands (at 2:15) : https://fb.watch/yRf65kKZcS/
Makes one think of the people of the banlieues and their struggle…. Perhaps for another Substack?
Many Substacks! The poorer banlieues are indeed the modern equivalent. Workers there are not chiffonniers but municipal garbage collectors, nurses, janitors, delivery people, construction workers, nannies, commuting long distances very early into central Paris to make the richer neighbourhoods function. As I often say, Paris hasn’t been about “Left Bank vs. Right Bank” for 50+ years. It’s about center vs. periphery. (And if one really needs to split intra-muros in two, it’s about west vs. east)
Yes, and there's the verb too. "A l'époque, il zonait avec des mecs pas trop clairs..." I'll have to look up the origin of the word, which is used in English too.
Indeed! "Zoner" is the closest thing I could find to "loitering" in French as we don't really have that concept (public space is public), so we need to summon a criminal image to make something sound worse than "traîner"
Great post! Some of the poor were indeed displaced, because Haussmann’s renovation also had a political goal: ridding the city center of its anarchist element. Many settled in Belleville and of course in the infamous « zone. »
Thanks, Allison! You make a great point re: Belleville. I did make a small mention of it in a previous Substack about old modes of transportation that brought workers from that neighborhood (so remote back then!) into the city. Have a read if you're interested:
https://jennbragg.substack.com/p/before-the-paris-metro-was-built
Nice piece! A couple of small things to fix, tho. First, Adolphe Thiers didn't design the enceinte; he approved of it, as President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Thiers later became notorious for his hasty retreat to Versailles during the Commune in 1871, and then for the brutal week-long massacre of the Communards he ordered upon his return. But that's a story for another day. Second, it was Nappy III, Nappy I's cousin, who commissioned Haussmann's reconstruction of Paris. Not Nappy II, Nappy I's son, who died of TB at 21 in 1832..
Hi Christopher,
Thank you for these clarifications. It takes village to perfect a Substack! I shall update this piece using your suggestions - much appreciated and I'm really glad you enjoyed reading it.