The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs by Elaine Sciolino – WW Norton & Company

Elaine Sciolino, the former head of the Paris bureau of the New York Times, and today a contributing Times writer on French-based subjects, has just published a delightful book about a fascinating street in Paris. The Rue des Martyrs, a thriving street nearby her own Parisian apartment, is full of food shops, cabarets, bars, second-hand clothing shops, and inhabited by personalities that are larger than life. As we navigate the Rue des Martyrs, which traverses both the 9th arrondissement and the 18th arrondissement of Montmartre, which was not even a part of Paris until 1860, we learn much of its history. Saint Denis is said to have been beheaded on the Rue des Martyrs, where legend says he then walked down the hill carrying his own head.

Throughout the ages, famous people have lived on the street or nearby. In this neighborhood, Jefferson visited the home of Malesherbes where this 18th century aristrocrat cultivated flowers in his beautiful garden before being guillotined during the French Revolution. Artist Théodore Géricault had a studio on the rue des Martyrs while author Émile Zola lived nearby where he wrote “Nana”. The author introduces us to personalities as different as Michou, the performer and cabaret star who was the inspiration for “La Cage aux Folles”, to a knife sharpener, a restorer of gilded barometers, an antique dealer, various Algerian green grocers, competing fish mongers, and a local historian. The grand finale of the book features a pot luck dinner that Sciolino organizers in the bistrot Miroir, where all the completely disparate characters of the street, who have never deigned to meet or speak to each other, are beguiled by the effervescent author into attending an uproarious and comedic dinner. “The Only Street in Paris” is a fascinating romp through history via one special neighborhood in Paris. Elaine Sciolino loves the City of Light, as only an American can, and she infuses her enchanting book with her optimistic, open and always enthusiastic American personality.

With “The Only Street in Paris” in hand, do take a walking tour of this fascinating street, and stop at Miroir for a delicious lunch or dinner. You won’t be disappointed on either count.

Miroir – 94 Rue des Martyrs, 75018 Paris – tel: 01 46 06 50 73