Jean-Paul Clébert (1926–2011)

Here's a Paris you've probably never seen or read about. It's an interesting tour, of a sort, where you'll be introduced to neighborhoods you don't know or that are no longer the same as they were in the 50s, and people you don't see when you go to visit the museums and the Eiffel Tower. It's down-to-earth, as are the people. My only complaint is that Clebert seems not to have seen any violent people where he was hanging out. He mentions at the end that they exist. They exist in the Maigret books too, but they are always far away and different from the vagabonds, rag-pickers, and drifters -- those who Clebert writes about. The violent ones are gangsters, probably from Marseille. And who knows? Maybe that's true.

And there are photos!

It just so happens that this evening I watched (for the third or fourth time) the episode of the French television Maigret series starring Bruno Cremer titled Maigret et le Clochard. The victim is a tramp who camps out under one of the bridges along the Seine in Paris. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that there were many details in the scenes that brought to life what Clebert described in his book.… (more)