Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [173]
The boulevard de Strasbourg, linking the Gare de l’Est and the Grands Boulevards, would not be completed until the early 1850s, but Duquesney designed the structure with the future vista in mind. Although—or perhaps because—the immediate neighborhood today is a bit down-at-the-heel, the station makes an imposing sight as it dominates Place Napoléon III.
What is perhaps most striking about the Gare de l’Est, however, is its haunting history as the point of departure for the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. If you don’t have this history in mind at first (as you contemplate such eastern destinations as Strasbourg and Bâle, plus the newly completed TGV line to Strasbourg and Germany), you will soon be reminded by at least four large plaques. “N’oublions jamais,” the plaques implore visitors. “De cette gare partirent des milliers des patriotes français pour le tragique voyage.” Let us never forget …
GARE SAINT-LAZARE
Farther west and serving the western region of the country, including Normandy as well as extensive Paris suburbs, this more centrally located station didn’t stand at the head of a great vista. Sutcliffe dismisses the Gare Saint-Lazare as “a conforming Parisian façade architecture, virtually unrecognizable as a station.” However, in its newly sandblasted state, connected by a blue filigreed skywalk from the Hôtel Concorde Saint-Lazare, this mid-nineteenth-century structure has a definite glamour; its neighbors include the splendid Second Empire department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.
The Gare Saint-Lazare was redesigned in the 1860s as the Second Empire made its mark under Napoléon III. Haussmann’s street improvements were in full swing, and the Hôtel Terminus (now the Concorde Saint-Lazare) coincided with the remodeling of the station. Today, this bustling area is entertaining. The 1895 seafood restaurant Mollard is across the street, decorated with fabulous mosaic murals, and the posh 1889 Paul boulangerie is located at boulevard Haussmann and rue Tronchet (where lines form for turtle-shaped loaves and gourmet sandwiches).
The most striking feature of the Gare Saint-Lazare is the range of its amenities. On the ground floor is the vast Galerie Marchande. This ultra-mall sells everything from fresh vegetables to Swarovski crystal. You can get your umbrella repaired at Maroquinerie à la Pierrette. (“Même les plus malades,” a sign promises—even the worst of them.) And when was the last time you were in a station that had an antiques shop? Oh, yes, you can get glasses in an hour and your photos developed at the same time.
The Galerie Marchande has undergone a massive renovation. This is also now the site of the new RER Haussmann-Saint-Lazare commuter rail station. Up the escalator to the main ticket hall, two huge brasseries are doing a brisk business, and the hot-dog-shaped stainless-steel stands on rubber tires—a whimsical presence in every station—serve all sorts of refreshments to go. Meanwhile signs boast of on-time performance and wagons-lits posters exhort us to “discover the new cuisine on board—for the pleasure of the taste and the trip.”
GARE D’AUSTERLITZ
After our virtual journeys to the north, east, and west from these Right Bank stations, let’s move south to the Left Bank for the southern routes. If the Gare Saint-Lazare and its environs recall city life in the late nineteenth century, the Gare d’Austerlitz reflects the era of travel to the posh watering holes of the southwest, notably Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
Though the station itself is rather nondescript due to its early origins, it offers a fine glimpse into a leisurely era, when travelers disported themselves in the formal restaurant upstairs, seen from outside as a row of bright blue awnings over flowered window boxes. In the restaurant, Le Grenadier, you will be given its history (named for a neighborhood soldier