Gentrification French style

We left s. france a few days early and took the express train to paris, getting in yesterday evening.

Today, we visited a market and signed up to do a 2 hour walking tour of the Marais neighborhood. It turns out it was the old jewish quarter for many centuries, which of course made Yona very excited. The tour was really well done. One of the things we learned about was a network of state run pawn shops. Some of them have endowments so they charge no interest, while others operate to break even, even splitting the proceeds if the items end up being sold. Back in the day, people would pawn their fancy clothes or even their mattress. Some people even had a morning ritual of pawning their mattress every morning (and buying it back in the evening (perhaps the first micro loan program?)).

As to be expected, there were some amazing 400 and 500 year old buildings, called hotel particuliers. The king had moved into the neighborhood around the 1600s so all the nobility and wannabees quickly bought up property and started building houses. The really old houses have stone window frames and dividers. The neighborhood fell into disrepair after the french revolution, when the houses were converted into factories or warehouses. But recently it was designated a historic area, which has sparked a recovery driven by trendy shops. The neighborhood is gentrifying and in this case it is the jewish residents who are being driven out by the yuppies.

Now it is off to find some dinner.
Josh