IV. GENERAL REMARKS.
xxiii
including about 250,000 foreigners. If we add the population of
environs practically, though not officially, forming part of the cap¬
ital, we find that Paris is really a community of nearly 3 million
inhabitants.
The part of the Seine within the city is about 7 M. long and is
crossed by 31 bridges. It contains two islands of some size, the lie
St. Louis and the He de la Cite, each formed by the union of several
islets. Paris is thus naturally divided into three parts; the quarters
on the right bank, the Cite with the island of St. Louis, and the
quarters on the left bank. The old distinctions between Old Paris,
the Faubourgs, and the Communes Annexe"es have entirely dis¬
appeared, and the only sensible difference between the various
districts now consists in the greater traffic observable in the central
quarters. A glance at the Plan will show the limits of Old Paris,
bounded by the first circle of boulevards, the so-called Grands
Boulevards (p. 78). It should be noted, however, that on the left
bank the old city of Paris extended as fai as the boulevards to the
S. of the garden of the Luxembourg. Outside the Great Boulevards
lie the Old Faubourgs or suburbs, the names of which are still
preserved in those of the chief streets radiating from the centre
of the city, and extending to the Outer Boulevards (Boulevards
Exterieurs, p. 78). The Faubourgs themselves are generally named
after the corresponding district of the old town. The most important
on the right bank, named from E. to W., are the Faubourgs St.
Antoine, du Temple, St. Martin, St. Denis, Poissonniere, Mont¬
martre, and St. Honore. Those on the left bank are less known,
with the exception of the Faubourg St. Germain, which from an
early period formed part of the old. city. The Faubourgs of St.
Antoine and the Temple are the great industrial districts, the former
being the headquarters of the manufacture of furniture, and the
latter of the various fancy articles classed together as 'articles de
Paris' (real and imitation jewellery, artificial flowers, toys, articles
in leather and carved wood, etc.). The Faubourgs of St. Martin,
St. Denis, and Poissonniere are rather commercial than infihstrial,
and form the centre of the wholesale and export trade of the great
capital. The streets near the centre of the town, however, partic¬
ularly the Great Boulevards,.contain many of the finest Tetail shops
in Paris. The Faubourg Montmartre and the quarters of the Ex¬
change, the Palais-Royal, and the Ope"ra are the financial quarters
of the town, and also contain nearly all that is necessary for the
comfort and entertainment of visitors to Paris. The Faubourg St.
Honore" and the Champs-Elyse'es are occupied by the mansions of
the aristocracy of wealth, while the Faubourg St. Germain is more
or less sacred to the aristocracy of blood, and contains most of the
embassies and ministerial offices. The Quartier Latin or Quartier
des Ecoles, which adjoins the Faubourg St. Germain on the E.,
owes its name to the fact of its being the seat of the university and
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