Rue de la Pompe
Encyclopedia
Rue de la Pompe is a street in Paris
, France
, which was named after the pump which served water to the castle of Muette. With a length of 1690 metres, Rue de la Pompe is one of the longest streets in the XVIe arrondissement
. It runs from Avenue Paul Doumer (in the district of Muette) to Avenue Foch
(in the district of Porte Dauphine).
Originally, it was a small way and first mentioned in 1730. For a long time, Rue de la Pompe, which runs from South to North, was together with Rue de Longchamp (which runs from East to West) the main axis of Passy whose terrain was mainly used for agricultural reasons until it became a part of Paris on January 1 of 1860.
has spent a part of her childhood here.
Just a few steps further on the same side of the street – at the place where today is house number 11 – once stood a country house in which the writer and journalist Jules Janin
moved around 1850: "It surely needs a lot of courage to settle in this wilderness, on a scarcely discernible way. The first three winters we have spent alone here, surrounded by this frightening isolation and this total silence."
During the summer 0f 2010 Jessica Talley, noted American photographer and dancer lived with the notorious socialite Eliza F M Wright on the top floor of number 11.
His Grace Lord Lassus currently resides in number 12.
In direct neighborhood grew up at nearly the same time the writer and caricaturist George du Maurier
who was born on March 6, 1834 in Paris. In his first novel Peter Ibbetson (published in 1891), which has some autobiographical tendencies, the author is telling about happy days of childhood in the Rue de la Pompe:
"Our house, an old yellow house with green shutters and Mansard-roofs of slate, stood between the garden and the street - a long winding street ... on either side of the street (which was called "the Street of the Pump"), as far as the eye could reach looking west, were dwelling-houses just like our own, only agreeably different; and garden walls overtopped with the foliage of horse-chestnut, sycamore, acacia, and lime; and here and there huge portals and iron gates defended by posts of stone gave ingress to mysterious abodes of brick and plaster and granite, many-shuttered, and embosomed in sun-shot greenery."
Not only his granddaughter, the writer Daphne du Maurier
, was of the opinion that his depictions brought to life again old Passy and the Rue de la Pompe: "Kicky … was a happy little boy – or so he believed, when fifty years later he wrote about his childhood in Peter Ibbetson – and the scents and sounds of pre-imperial Paris, the rumble of wheels on cubbled stones, the crack of a whip, the white dust at the corner of the Rue de la Pompe, the chestnut trees in flower – even the small burnt bread, black coffee, and tobacco on the warm spring air – rise from the pages of his novel …"
Wistfully, George du Maurier has also dealt with the rapid alterations, Passy had been involved - especially as a result of the annexation to Paris on January 1, 1860. 12 years after he had been taken away from his beloved Passy to London by his uncle, his protagonist Peter Ibbetson returns to Passy for the first time: the old house was no more, but in its place a much larger and smarter edifice of sculptured stone. Also from the trusted apple-tree remained the stump only. But the old gate at least had not disappeared. "I feasted my sorrowful eyes on these poor remains, that looked snubbed and shabby and out of place in the midst of all this new splendor."
The old park hedge, which they often had crossed through a gap inside it, to get faster to and from the Bois de Boulogne
, had also disappeared and "the very park itself was gone, cut up, demolished, all parcelled out into small gardens with trim white villas, except where a railway ran through a deep cutting in the chalk. A train actually roared and panted by, and choked me with its filthy steam as I looked round in stupefaction on the ruins of my long-cherished hope."
Some decades letter grew up another writer in the same street - and his childhood memories sound very similarly atrabilious like the narration by Du Maurier: "When I stroll around Passy I feel like wandering inside myself and always I am faced with my own childhood."
With the same melancholy, Du Maurier felt a century before, Julien Green
is also writing about the many changes his home has suffered in time: "It is amazing how a quarter century could deprive all the former charm from this part of town. I know that it is useless and ridiculous to moan about vanished stones, but my impression is without leniency when I have a look at these tenements which are now occupy the heights in which I remember to have seen many old-fashioned elegant villas, and gardens who kept their silence and the singing of the birds like treasures." "And when I stroll down from the heights of Passy to the banks of the Seine, I sometimes ask myself where I am and if I have not dreamed."
Green lived on the left side of Rue de la Pompe (there where the odd numbers are) and visited Lycée Janson de Sailly
with number 106, just across the street. Because he heard nothing but English at home (his parents were Americans) and nothing but French in school, Green described the Rue de la Pompe as "my Atlantic Ocean".
Also in opposite to the mentioned high school lived the French general Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre
(1852-1931) for 10 years, as a commemorative plaque on house number 115 reveals.
Virginia Oldoini, Countess di Castiglione, an early photographic artist, secret agent, courtesan
and mistress to royalty, was bought a small house on the street by Napolean III in 1857.
In 1919, an apartment at 115 rue de la Pompe became the home of Irène Némirovsky, author of David Golder, Le Bal, and Suite Francaise, among other novels.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, which was named after the pump which served water to the castle of Muette. With a length of 1690 metres, Rue de la Pompe is one of the longest streets in the XVIe arrondissement
XVIe arrondissement
The 16th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France...
. It runs from Avenue Paul Doumer (in the district of Muette) to Avenue Foch
Avenue Foch
Avenue Foch is a street in Paris, France, named after Ferdinand Foch in 1929. It was previously named Avenue du Bois de Boulogne. It is one of the most prestigious streets in Paris, and one of the most expensive addresses in the world, home to many grand palaces, including ones belonging to the...
(in the district of Porte Dauphine).
Originally, it was a small way and first mentioned in 1730. For a long time, Rue de la Pompe, which runs from South to North, was together with Rue de Longchamp (which runs from East to West) the main axis of Passy whose terrain was mainly used for agricultural reasons until it became a part of Paris on January 1 of 1860.
Residence of famous people
The house with number 1 lies in the southern part of the street and (with view from there) on the left side. Brigitte BardotBrigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
has spent a part of her childhood here.
Just a few steps further on the same side of the street – at the place where today is house number 11 – once stood a country house in which the writer and journalist Jules Janin
Jules Janin
Jules Gabriel Janin was a French writer and critic.-Biography:Born in Saint-Étienne , Janin's father was a lawyer, and he was educated first at St. Étienne, and then at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris...
moved around 1850: "It surely needs a lot of courage to settle in this wilderness, on a scarcely discernible way. The first three winters we have spent alone here, surrounded by this frightening isolation and this total silence."
During the summer 0f 2010 Jessica Talley, noted American photographer and dancer lived with the notorious socialite Eliza F M Wright on the top floor of number 11.
His Grace Lord Lassus currently resides in number 12.
In direct neighborhood grew up at nearly the same time the writer and caricaturist George du Maurier
George du Maurier
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was a French-born British cartoonist and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and also for his novel Trilby. He was the father of actor Gerald du Maurier and grandfather of the writers Angela du Maurier and Dame Daphne du Maurier...
who was born on March 6, 1834 in Paris. In his first novel Peter Ibbetson (published in 1891), which has some autobiographical tendencies, the author is telling about happy days of childhood in the Rue de la Pompe:
"Our house, an old yellow house with green shutters and Mansard-roofs of slate, stood between the garden and the street - a long winding street ... on either side of the street (which was called "the Street of the Pump"), as far as the eye could reach looking west, were dwelling-houses just like our own, only agreeably different; and garden walls overtopped with the foliage of horse-chestnut, sycamore, acacia, and lime; and here and there huge portals and iron gates defended by posts of stone gave ingress to mysterious abodes of brick and plaster and granite, many-shuttered, and embosomed in sun-shot greenery."
Not only his granddaughter, the writer Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
, was of the opinion that his depictions brought to life again old Passy and the Rue de la Pompe: "Kicky … was a happy little boy – or so he believed, when fifty years later he wrote about his childhood in Peter Ibbetson – and the scents and sounds of pre-imperial Paris, the rumble of wheels on cubbled stones, the crack of a whip, the white dust at the corner of the Rue de la Pompe, the chestnut trees in flower – even the small burnt bread, black coffee, and tobacco on the warm spring air – rise from the pages of his novel …"
Wistfully, George du Maurier has also dealt with the rapid alterations, Passy had been involved - especially as a result of the annexation to Paris on January 1, 1860. 12 years after he had been taken away from his beloved Passy to London by his uncle, his protagonist Peter Ibbetson returns to Passy for the first time: the old house was no more, but in its place a much larger and smarter edifice of sculptured stone. Also from the trusted apple-tree remained the stump only. But the old gate at least had not disappeared. "I feasted my sorrowful eyes on these poor remains, that looked snubbed and shabby and out of place in the midst of all this new splendor."
The old park hedge, which they often had crossed through a gap inside it, to get faster to and from the Bois de Boulogne
Bois de Boulogne
The Bois de Boulogne is a park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine...
, had also disappeared and "the very park itself was gone, cut up, demolished, all parcelled out into small gardens with trim white villas, except where a railway ran through a deep cutting in the chalk. A train actually roared and panted by, and choked me with its filthy steam as I looked round in stupefaction on the ruins of my long-cherished hope."
Some decades letter grew up another writer in the same street - and his childhood memories sound very similarly atrabilious like the narration by Du Maurier: "When I stroll around Passy I feel like wandering inside myself and always I am faced with my own childhood."
With the same melancholy, Du Maurier felt a century before, Julien Green
Julien Green
Julien Green , was an American writer, who authored several novels, including Léviathan and Each in His Own Darkness...
is also writing about the many changes his home has suffered in time: "It is amazing how a quarter century could deprive all the former charm from this part of town. I know that it is useless and ridiculous to moan about vanished stones, but my impression is without leniency when I have a look at these tenements which are now occupy the heights in which I remember to have seen many old-fashioned elegant villas, and gardens who kept their silence and the singing of the birds like treasures." "And when I stroll down from the heights of Passy to the banks of the Seine, I sometimes ask myself where I am and if I have not dreamed."
Green lived on the left side of Rue de la Pompe (there where the odd numbers are) and visited Lycée Janson de Sailly
Lycée Janson de Sailly
Lycée Janson de Sailly is a lycée located in the XVIe arrondissement of Paris, France. It is generally considered as one of the most prestigious lycées in Paris...
with number 106, just across the street. Because he heard nothing but English at home (his parents were Americans) and nothing but French in school, Green described the Rue de la Pompe as "my Atlantic Ocean".
Also in opposite to the mentioned high school lived the French general Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre
Joseph Joffre
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre OM was a French general during World War I. He is most known for regrouping the retreating allied armies to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in 1914. His popularity led to his nickname Papa Joffre.-Biography:Joffre was born in...
(1852-1931) for 10 years, as a commemorative plaque on house number 115 reveals.
Virginia Oldoini, Countess di Castiglione, an early photographic artist, secret agent, courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
and mistress to royalty, was bought a small house on the street by Napolean III in 1857.
In 1919, an apartment at 115 rue de la Pompe became the home of Irène Némirovsky, author of David Golder, Le Bal, and Suite Francaise, among other novels.