“It’s not just a street.” You might be thinking, “It’s just a short street in the 2nd arrondissement.” Yes, it is, and yet, it holds the whispers of Parisian history, echoing the rise and fall of countless presses, the voices of revolutionaries, and even the last moments of a prominent politician. Welcome to Rue du Croissant. This street, named after a sign with that very shape displayed in 1612, has seen a remarkable transformation over the years.
You stand here, where an old cemetery and chapel once stood. In fact, you are standing on the very site where Molière was buried in 1673 and, perhaps, where La Fontaine was laid to rest in 1695. The chapel, built in 1640, served the Saint Eustache parish. Over time, the street became the heart of Paris’s printing industry. It is said that Balzac frequented the Café du Croissant, a cafe on the corner with rue Montmartre, just before he began to write his famous “Comedie Humaine.” In 1871, under the Commune, the street was bustling with revolutionary activity filled with daily and weekly newspapers. The printing presses churned out newspapers like “La Patrie en Danger,” “Le Mot d’Ordre,” and even “La Marseillaise.”
On July 31, 1914, a tragic event forever linked the street to a tragic death. Jean Jaurès, a prominent socialist, was assassinated at the Café du Croissant just as he was preparing to go to the offices of “L’Humanite” at number 16.
Now, as you look down the street, you see only a quiet, peaceful street. The printing presses are gone, but whispers of the past can still be heard in the rustle of the leaves, the echoes of the stones, and the stories of those who walked these cobblestones.