Wander with me along Rue Tournadour a street with stories etched in its very stones. This Parisian street in the 6th arrondissement widens grandly. It ascends towards the majestic Luxembourg Palace on Rue Vaugirard.
Once, Rue Tournadour housed France’s elite. They erected small palaces here outside old Paris’s inner walls. But its history runs deeper than wealth and privilege.
André Gide, a prominent figure resided at No. 2 for eight years. From 1875 to 1883, this address was his Parisian home. Next door at No. 4, Alexandre Ledru-Rollin faced a harrowing ordeal. In 1848, a mob threatened him. They accused him of supporting workers’ insurrection. Sharing the same address was Lamartine. He was another advocate for suffrage expansion.
At No. 5 Jacques Prévert lived on the fifth floor for a year starting in 1910. Fifteen years later he married Simone Dienne. Her family lived on the ground floor in 1910.
Charles Fourier, an early utopian socialist edited his revue at No. 6. He worked from the offices of La Phalange in 1840. During the 1848 revolution, the anarchist Bakunin found refuge at No. 10. He stayed in the Republican Guard barracks.
In May 1871 the barracks served as a grim stage. Communards faced court-martial during the bloody week. The Foyot restaurant, later bombed in 1894 witnessed history too. Gustave Courbet and other Commune supporters frequented it in 1871. Laurent Tailhade, ironically lost an eye in the bombing. He was a supporter of the propaganda by deed anarchist movement. A scandal involving Verlaine erupted at Foyot. A symbolist poet invited the ragged Verlaine to dine there.
During the German occupation, Louis Aragon found refuge at No. 19. The bookseller Lucien Scheler hid him in his flat in 1943.
Originally, Rue Tournadour began as a narrow lane. It cut through Abbey land and was called Saint Sulpice lane in 1517. Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey sold bits of this land to builders. In 1541, it was renamed Rue de Tournon. This honored Cardinal François de Tournon who oversaw the abbey.
In 1849, under the Second Republic the street took its unique shape. It widens from 13.5 meters to twice that size. This creates a grand approach to the Luxembourg Palace.
Today, Rue de Tournon stands as a testament to Parisian history. From revolutionaries to writers, its buildings have sheltered figures who shaped France. As you stroll along Rue Tournadour imagine echoes of the past. Picture the lives that unfolded here.