Let's explore the northern suburbs of Paris. The mere mention of the dreadful "northern suburbs" makes the hair of Parisians stand on end, while images of burning cars and "youth" (codeword for "immigrant") gangs run through their heads. That's partly the reality in the northern suburbs, but there is much more to the northern suburbs than what sensationalist media like to report.
Note: pictures here from
Annick Restle at Panoramio.
Detached houses next to the concrete blocks of a cité (social estate) somewhere in the northern suburbs:
An illegally occupied building in St Denis, in the northern suburbs:
A typical white-collar house in a leafy northwestern suburb of Paris. It is made of so-called "meulières" stones. This type of suburban house is dearly sought after by Paris executives:
A crazy social estate somewhere in the northern suburbs, below one of Paris CDG's flight paths, with clothes hanging outside:
Winter in the northeastern suburbs of Paris (in Aulnay-sous-Bois precisely):
Commercial street in the old part of Aubervilliers, in the northeastern suburbs, just beyond the Périphérique beltway:
Santa Claus climbing a building in the new business district under construction in St Denis, near the Stade de France sport arena:
An abandoned building somewhere in the northern suburbs:
Public library in a very wealthy northwestern suburb of Paris:
A private high school in the same very wealthy northwestern suburb:
The Franco-Muslim Avicenne Hospital in the northeastern suburbs:
A convent of nuns somewhere in the northwestern suburbs:
Gypsy camp somewhere in the northeastern suburbs:
A modern building at the Franco-Muslim Avicenne Hospital in the northeastern suburbs:
A very expensive cottage in a wealthy northwestern suburb on the edge of the Montmorency Forest:
A Chaldean Christian church in the northern suburbs (don't let the plants in the foreground fool you, the picture was really taken in the northern suburbs of Paris, in Sarcelles precisely):
Suburban train station turned into a McDonald's, in the northwestern suburbs:
The border between the Val-d'Oise département and Seine-Saint-Denis département in the northern suburbs of Paris:
A little square in a very wealthy community in the northwestern suburbs:
1930s military quarters in the northeastern suburbs, turned into a residential complex:
A totally unexpected street in the working-class suburb of St Ouen, near St Denis:
The church of Our Lady of the Missions in the northwestern suburbs. Notice the Chinese elements reminding worshipers of the French Catholic missions in southern China and French Indochina:
The house of Amélie Poulain's father in the cult movie 'Amélie'. It is located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, which is ironic given that this movie presented a clichéesque image of a time-frozen Central Paris totally disconnected from the suburbs:
Halloween at the St Mary Clinic, a private hospital in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, in the area where most cars burnt during the 2005 riots:
The dilapidated Gros Saule ("Big Willow") social estate, in the northeastern suburbs, not far from the St Mary Clinic:
Appalling trash conditions in a social estate. The van to the left is German, but the picture was taken at the Roseraie ("Rose Garden") social estate in Sevran, in the northeastern suburbs. Notice how many of these awful social estates have flower/tree/bucolic names.
A social estate being torn down not far from the St Mary Clinic and the Gros Saule social estate. Many ugly social estates in the Paris suburbs are currently listed for destruction, in an attempt to erase the social ghettoes that are thought to be the cause of the 2005 urban riots:
Kids of all races, creeds, and religions playing with the fountain in front of the Drancy town hall, in the northeastern suburbs:
A canal in the northeastern suburbs, near all the social estates just shown:
A beautiful park in the northeastern suburbs, also near the ugly social estates previously shown:
A new neighborhood under construction in one of the poorest areas of the northeastern suburbs. The local mayor is a member of the French Communist Party, but he is apparently tired of the Stalinist social estates:
Paris Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget, in the northern suburbs:
Old chimneys somewhere in the northwestern suburbs:
A teachers' training college (école normale) in the northern suburbs:
'Where do you live?' 'Below the road.' This picture was taking in the northwestern suburbs of Paris:
The end of the northern suburbs. The open countryside starts here, on the edge of the megacity, 21 km (13 miles) from Notre Dame Cathedral as the crow flies. In that picture, Central Paris lies beyond the horizon line (i.e. the photographer is looking towards the south):
Linear Mode
