Rue Baudelaire

Gazing at the nascent Rue Baudelaire, imagine Charles Baudelaire himself, a young man, wandering Lyon between 1832 and 1836. Rue Baudelaire, a street now bearing his name, didn’t exist then. But the city held him. A plaque at 6 rue d’Auvergne commemorates his time here. He was just a boy, studying at Lycée Ampère. Rue Baudelaire today stretches between Quai Riboud and Place Mitterrand, aligning perfectly with them. Starting at Rue Smith, it ends at a new pathway extending Rue Vuillerme. A pedestrian walkway to the north connects with the extension of Rue Delandine. Rue Baudelaire is a street still under construction, mirroring perhaps the constant evolution of a city and the ongoing development of a poet’s spirit. In 2021, it was being built on the former site of the Marché Gare. Its southern side is almost complete, with three cubic building flanks separated by gardens. The first building boasts pillars of varying thickness, and the large arches of Enedis peek from behind a garden. The north side remains under construction, as does a possible extension towards the quay. Charles Baudelaire, born in Paris in 1821, would become a giant of French poetry. His most famous work, “Les Fleurs du Mal” (“The Flowers of Evil”), explores the complexities of beauty and the human condition. Little could the young Baudelaire, traversing the streets of Lyon, have imagined that one day, a street in this very city would carry his name. Rue Baudelaire.