Ménilmontant
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Ménilmontant (French pronunciation: [menilmɔ̃tɑ̃]) is a neighbourhood of Paris, situated in the city's 20th arrondissement. It is affectionately known to locals as "Ménilmuche".
History[]
Originally a hamlet within the independent commune (municipality) of Belleville, Ménilmontant was, like other suburban communes surrounding the French capital, absorbed into the city of Paris in 1860. The name is said to derive from Mesnil Mautemps, meaning "bad weather house". By the 16th century mautemps had been corrupted into montant (meaning "climbing"), probably owing to its situation on a hill overlooking Paris.
In 1832, the area also served as the location of a retreat, established by the Saint-Simonian theorist Enfantin and forty followers. Before its 1860 absorption into Paris, Ménilmontant lay beyond the capital's tax border (octroi), so that wine was cheaper there, leading to the development of numerous drinking establishments, known as guinguettes, in the 18th century. It has long been a predominantly working-class neighborhood, and in the early 1830s became notorious for the commune established there by the Saint-Simonians before being banned by the authorities.
Transport[]
Ménilmontant is served by the Ménilmontant station of the Métro.
In popular culture[]
Literature[]
- Menilmontant is the scene of the first part of Russian-born Andrei Makine's novel La vie d'un homme inconnu.
- The Prix Goncourt winning novel La Maternelle (1904) takes place in Ménilmontant.[1]
- The Ménilmontant neighbourhood is mentioned prominently in Henry Miller's 1956 novel Quiet Days in Clichy as well as in the 1969 film adaptation of that novel by Jens Jørgen Thorsen.
Singing[]
- Film star and singer Maurice Chevalier was born in Ménilmontant.[2]
- Ménilmontant is a song by the French singer Charles Trenet. An instrumental version was recorded by Django Reinhardt in 1949/50.
- "Rue de Ménilmontant" is a song by the French singer Camille Dalmais.
Cinema[]
- Ménilmontant (1926), written and directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff, takes its name from Ménilmontant.
- Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), the character Garance hails from Ménilmontant.
- Casque d'or (1952), starring Simone Signoret, is set in Ménilmontant.
- Le Ballon Rouge (1956), the Palme d'Or–winning classic fantasy short film, was set in Ménilmontant.
- Gigot (1962), an American comedy film directed by Gene Kelly and starring Jackie Gleason, was filmed in Ménilmontant.
- The Bourne Identity (2002), the chase scene, with Franka Potente and Matt Damon in a Mini Hatch, was filmed partly in Ménilmontant.
- Un p'tit gars de Ménilmontant (2013), a crime drama movie by Alain Minier, was set in Ménilmontant.
References[]
- ^ Albert Schinz, "Acadamie Goncourt and its Laureate Leon Frapie" in The Bookman, Vol. 21, p. 290. Dodd, Mead and Co., 1905.
- ^ Huang, H., Music in the 20th Century, vol. 1 (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1999), p.124.
Coordinates: 48°51′58″N 2°23′01″E / 48.8661°N 2.3837°E
- Districts of Paris
- Île-de-France geography stubs