Rue du Maréchal Leclerc

“Can you imagine Lenin hurrying down this very street?” That’s right we’re standing on Rue du Maréchal Leclerc. It wasn’t always known by this name though. For a long time it was Avenue d’Orléans. This street has witnessed a fascinating piece of history. It’s one of Paris’ oldest roads. Pilgrims walked it on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Can you picture them? Their journey began as early as the 9th century AD. The Pope himself declared it one of the three most important Christian pilgrimages in 1492. But Rue du Maréchal Leclerc’s story doesn’t end there. It later became a hub for Russian revolutionaries. Lenin frequented the Café du Lion at number 5. He held Bolshevik meetings there. This was around 1910. There were about 25000 Russians in Paris then. Around 1000 were revolutionary socialists. 500 were anarchists. The French and Czarist secret police kept a close watch on them. On one occasion Lenin and other Bolsheviks chased a spy down the pavement in front of number 101. The street also hosted the Russian Social Democrats headquarters at number 110. Lenin Zinoviev and Kamenev were regular visitors between 1909 and 1912. Number 19 held a different significance. In 1908 Lenin opened a bank account at the Crédit Lyonnais branch there. The avenue’s name changed in 1948. It now honours General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque. His troops were the first to enter Paris during its liberation in August 1944. They came through the Porte d’Orléans. He died in a plane crash in 1947. His death came just as he was about to advocate for French withdrawal from Indochina. Rue du Maréchal Leclerc stands as a reminder of these transformative events. It’s a place where history and revolution intertwined leaving an indelible mark on Paris’s rich past. It is a quiet reminder of a vibrant past.