Chap­ter 24 – Chang­ing Paris presents a city caught in a moment of tran­si­tion, where its phys­i­cal and social struc­tures are being reshaped ahead of the 1900 Exhi­bi­tion. Icon­ic land­marks like the Palais de l’Industrie, once a stage for ele­gant gath­er­ings and major exhi­bi­tions, are being torn down. In its place, a grand avenue will stretch from the Champs Elysées to the Esplanade des Invalides, draw­ing a visu­al line to Napoleon’s tomb—a delib­er­ate nod to lega­cy amid change. Yet this act of hon­or­ing his­to­ry also eras­es part of it, remind­ing Parisians that per­ma­nence is an illu­sion. Even the most trea­sured build­ings, once thought untouch­able, are made tem­po­rary by time and progress. As the city pre­pares to wel­come the world, it seems will­ing to rewrite its land­scape for spec­ta­cle.

The grandeur of the past is remem­bered not only in build­ings but in people—like Empress Eugénie, whose opu­lent attire at past exhi­bi­tions sym­bol­ized an age of splen­dor. Her fash­ion, detailed in con­trast to Queen Victoria’s aus­tere dress, under­scored the cul­tur­al the­ater of impe­r­i­al Paris. But those cos­tumes and court­ly tra­di­tions now seem like rem­nants from a fad­ing per­for­mance. What once daz­zled has become irrel­e­vant to mod­ern sen­si­bil­i­ties, replaced by func­tion­al­i­ty and repub­li­can val­ues. The nar­ra­tive mourns this lost ele­gance, not in bit­ter­ness, but in wist­ful recog­ni­tion of how cities evolve away from their cer­e­mo­ni­al selves. In these chang­ing times, Paris feels like a stage where new actors per­form to dif­fer­ent scripts, less ornate but per­haps more inclu­sive.

Chap­ter 24 – Chang­ing Paris also explores shift­ing social dynam­ics, espe­cial­ly between the aris­toc­ra­cy and the repub­li­can state. For­mer elites no longer com­mand the pow­er they once did, yet they con­tin­ue to protest their decline through ges­tures like the roy­al­ist demon­stra­tions at the funer­als of the Duchesse d’Alençon and Duc d’Au­male. These events serve as sym­bol­ic resistance—an echo of a class unwill­ing to van­ish qui­et­ly. Despite their the­atrics, the aristocracy’s polit­i­cal rel­e­vance has dwin­dled, leav­ing their actions more nos­tal­gic than threat­en­ing. Still, their pres­ence in pub­lic life serves as a reminder of how his­to­ry lingers, even when insti­tu­tions move on. The nar­ra­tive reveals a city nego­ti­at­ing the ghosts of its past while try­ing to define a new civic iden­ti­ty.

Paris is not only trans­form­ing socially—it is under­go­ing a tech­no­log­i­cal upheaval that reshapes its infra­struc­ture and urban rhythm. Elec­tric trams and new rail­way lines are replac­ing qui­eter, slow­er streets. Dis­cus­sions around ele­vat­ed rail­ways spark pub­lic debate, with many fear­ing they’ll ruin the city’s icon­ic aes­thet­ic. But the city coun­cil, more rad­i­cal than before, push­es for­ward in favor of effi­cien­cy and mod­ern­iza­tion. This marks a deci­sive turn: Paris is becom­ing a city dri­ven by progress rather than preser­va­tion. The future arrives on steel tracks, and beau­ty is increas­ing­ly mea­sured by func­tion rather than tra­di­tion. In this shift, old neigh­bor­hoods lose their charm, but gain access and convenience—a trade-off that reflects glob­al urban trends.

Chap­ter 24 – Chang­ing Paris notes that the public’s atti­tude toward the aris­toc­ra­cy is one of indif­fer­ence more than dis­dain. No longer feared as polit­i­cal agi­ta­tors, the nobil­i­ty is seen more as anachro­nis­tic fig­ures cling­ing to a sta­tus that no longer holds insti­tu­tion­al weight. Mean­while, the gen­er­al pub­lic is increas­ing­ly prag­mat­ic, focused on the ben­e­fits of improved trans­port, san­i­ta­tion, and civic plan­ning. Though occa­sion­al protests stir emo­tion, they do lit­tle to reverse the tide of repub­li­can gov­er­nance. Pow­er has shift­ed from lin­eage to leg­is­la­tion, and with that, the social hier­ar­chy flat­tens. Still, traces of the old order persist—in cer­e­monies, in archi­tec­ture, and in whis­pered tales of court life. These frag­ments, while fad­ing, lend Paris a lay­ered char­ac­ter few cities can claim.

This moment in Parisian his­to­ry offers valu­able insight into how urban iden­ti­ty is formed and reformed through time. As the 1900 Exhi­bi­tion approach­es, Paris becomes a mod­el of trans­for­ma­tion, bal­anc­ing mod­ern inno­va­tion with his­tor­i­cal mem­o­ry. While build­ings fall and social roles evolve, the city con­tin­ues to enchant—less as a muse­um of past grandeur, and more as a can­vas for emerg­ing ideas. For read­ers today, it offers a case study in resilience and rein­ven­tion, remind­ing us that cities must adapt to thrive. The fric­tion between old and new, style and sub­stance, isn’t a flaw—it’s what gives cities their soul. In the ten­sion between remem­brance and progress, Paris writes its next chap­ter with con­vic­tion, not hes­i­ta­tion.