With Marie in tow, we were off to see the wizard of St. Denis. Before we embarked on our adventure, I was intrigued by Michel's description of a working farm in the middle of a most urban landscape surrounded by modern buildings. Explotation de Maraichers de la famille Kersante is a fourth generation farm owned by the Kersante family who has leased the land since the 1920s from the city. It sprawls 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) and a wide variety of salad greens and radishes are grown and shipped to the large markets around the city. What was most amazing was this vibrant, working farm was set in between a area with non-descript tall modern housing projects, burned out empty lots, and fast food places.
Cite Jardin de Stains was a planned community built in the 1920s by Henri Sellier, who used a utopian style approach to building the perfect city. The low two and three story buildings are made of brick and much more resemble British and German architecture of that period rather than French. Here was this gem of a village looking untouched by time.It almost felt like a movie set.
We dropped Marie back home after this and said our goodbyes. She was most happy with our little jaunt and we both thanked each other for our impromptu and delightful experience.
We headed to the center of St. Denis and caught the tail end of the indoor/outdoor market.The large, hangar like space of the indoor market had fruit, meat, fish and vegetable sellers frantically trying to unload the last of the day's bounty. I quickly bought some fruits for half off as they hurriedly cleared their stands. The outdoor market was bustling with tightly packed stands of non- food items like women's saris and cheap shoes. It had the feeling of a mid- east bazaar or the souks of Morocco. I stocked up on almonds and cashews for only 8 euros a kilo at a dark, unlit mid-east grocery store. We had both worked up quite a hunger so we stopped and had lunch at a simple, neighborhood Moroccan cafe where we each had a hearty tagine and cous cous. Michel shared more stories about St. Denis and some things about his personal life.
The center of St. Denis was rebuilt in the 1960s with mostly bland buildings which now were deteriorating. Michel took me to some of the outer streets where the 19th and early 20th century houses and apartments had so much more character. He showed me the Convent des Ursulines, a 17th century monastery which had been turned into apartments. We passed through the intimidating, massive doors into the beautiful overgrown courtyard with decayed building facades and were curious about how the interiors of the buildings looked. We struck up a conversation with a woman who lived there and she told us some interesting facts and history about the property. She was kind enough to let us into the lobby of one the buildings so we can look at one of the old staircases that attained landmark status by the city. The shiny dark red enamel bannisters and terracotta tiled and wood stairs were most handsome.
We returned to the center to look at the basilica and admired the only modern building of note, a curved,front mirrored Oscar Niemeyer building from the 1980s purposely reflecting the ancient church.
The last stop was a street corner by the canal which was the background for a famous Doisneau image from the 1940s of a corner bar. I tried to snap the same shot as a comparison but as luck would have it, the juice ran out of my camera battery. It was a romantic finishing touch.
What was supposed to be a few hour tour turned into a full day of adventure, intrigue,meeting new acquaintances and making a new unexpected friend. I was so inspired by Michel's vast knowledge and passion for St. Denis and thrilled that I had discovered a whole new area I never knew about, I asked him if we could collaborate on doing the same tour for Eye Prefer Paris tours. He gladly said yes.
If you want a fascinating look at an unexplored urban area that you would never really see on your own, Michel and I would love to show you St. Denis. Please email me for details.
This was such a special day and I will remember it for a long time. Bravo, Michel
Mighty Michel
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I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
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