Children in Belleville. Paris, XXth district.

Source:
Paris en Images, copyright LAPI / Roger-Viollet:
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Gaito Gazdanov's Paris / 7

The garage

I worked at the time for a little garage situated in a dead-end street not far from the boulevard de la Gare. Along one side was the long blind wall, dark grey, of a sugar refinery, on the other arose some miserable bungalows whose residents lived as in the 17th century; through the opaque windowpanes I often saw the yellow light of oil lamps.

The washing which was hung out, in summer, on the balustrades was so patched that you could see the patches from ten metres away. Each morning numerous poorly-dressed children played in front of the doors; when they ran, you could hear the rapid clicking of their hobnailed boots on the pavement. [81]