In “The Paris of our Grand­par­ents,” the chap­ter delves deeply into the pro­found trans­for­ma­tions Paris has under­gone since the mid-19th Cen­tu­ry, illus­trat­ing these shifts through vivid per­son­al anec­dotes and his­tor­i­cal insights. This nar­ra­tive unfolds as the author explores Parisian life and land­marks with an elder­ly lady who rem­i­nisces about her youth, blend­ing per­son­al his­to­ry with the broad­er evo­lu­tion of the city’s land­scape. Paris, once con­fined to areas well with­in land­marks like the rue Royale and bur­geon­ing past the Madeleine, is por­trayed as a city in the midst of expan­sion, where fash­ion­able soci­eties thrived and land­marks like the Arc de Tri­om­phe and Champs Ely­sees were in their nascent stages.

The chap­ter cap­tures the quin­tes­sence of Parisian ele­gance and soci­etal norms through the lens of the elder­ly lady, who nar­rates her expe­ri­ences and obser­va­tions. The after­noons spent dri­ving along boule­vards, the pecu­liar­i­ties of fash­ion includ­ing low-necked dress­es and high-swung car­riages, and social prac­tices like din­ing at renowned spots such as Mai­son Doree and attend­ing fash­ion­able gath­er­ings in the Palais-Roy­al vivid­ly bring to life a bygone era of Parisian chic. Her tales evoke imagery of a Paris where the aris­toc­ra­cy and bur­geon­ing bour­geoisie coex­ist­ed with­in a rapid­ly mod­ern­iz­ing cityscape, empha­siz­ing the trans­for­ma­tion from per­son­al con­veyances like the dili­gence from Calais to the begin­ning of urban sprawl and the emer­gence of bustling boule­vards.

More­over, the chap­ter reflects on polit­i­cal changes, cap­tur­ing moments of upheaval like the rev­o­lu­tion of ’48, offer­ing a per­son­al per­spec­tive on the abdi­ca­tion of the “Cit­i­zen King” Louis Philippe and the social unrest that per­vad­ed Paris, trans­form­ing it not only archi­tec­tural­ly but also polit­i­cal­ly. Through her eyes, read­ers wit­ness the sack of the palace, the fer­vor of rev­o­lu­tion­ar­ies, and the per­son­al risks under­tak­en by those who par­tic­i­pat­ed in or were caught up in the events, includ­ing her own hus­band.

This chap­ter is sat­u­rat­ed with nos­tal­gia for a Paris that has since evolved, encap­su­lat­ing the intri­ca­cies of soci­etal shifts, fash­ion, and polit­i­cal land­scapes of the era. The por­tray­al relies heav­i­ly on per­son­al anec­dotes and his­tor­i­cal con­text, pre­sent­ing a rich tapes­try of Parisian life that invites read­ers to pon­der the rapid change of cities and the time­less allure of Paris. Through the jux­ta­po­si­tion of the past with the author’s present, it reminds us of the con­tin­u­ous thread of his­to­ry that runs through the heart of every city, shap­ing its iden­ti­ty and the mem­o­ries of those who walk its streets.