Boulevards of Paris - The grands Boulevards

The grands Boulevards

The Grands Boulevards are essentially 'the best' of the Parisian boulevards. They correspond to the Nouveau Cours built between 1668 and 1705 in place of the dismantled Louis XIII wall. The boulevards of Louis XIV were conceived by Pierre Bullet to link the Porte Saint-Antoine (situated where the place de la Bastille now stands) to the Porte Saint-Honoré (situated where the Place de la Madeleine now stands).

Which ones exactly are classed amongst the Grands Boulevards is somewhat unclear. Many Parisians would automatically include Boulevard Haussmann amongst them, as the large department stores (Printemps and Galeries Lafayette) draw promenaders in the "boulevardier spirit". However, strictly speaking, "les Grands Boulevards" would only include the Boulevard Beaumarchais, Filles-du-Calvaire, Temple, Saint-Martin, Saint-Denis, Bonne-Nouvelle, Poissonnière, Montmartre, Italiens, Capucines and the Madeleine boulevards.

Parisians made the boulevards into promenades which have remained popular through the ages and changes in the city. They were the setting for Maupassant's Bel Ami; Fred Astaire took to the boulevards in Funny Face (1957). The later opening of other trunk roads, namely Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, Boulevard Haussmann, and Avenue de la République, has somewhat reduced the visibility of the Grand Boulevards and the Louis XIII wall in the Paris topography.