Haussmann's renovation of Paris

If you visit Paris today, you're still walking through Napoleon III's city.

How transformative was he as a modernizer? And I wonder if you could go into a little bit about what Paris represented to him in the sense of, you know, rebuilding it, Haussmannization, things that people may be vaguely aware of, but how integral that was to his regime and his outlook on what France could be after a period of such political instability.

It's absolutely key.

And literally, again, it's tied to political stability, but there's a lot to get through.

Roughly split into four sections, we start with the Spleen et Ideal, the Spleen and Ideal, exploring the human spiritual condition.

Moving to a 24-hour period in Paris, Baudelaire shifts focus to the city, seeking deliverance from his own misery by observing an isolation of others during the Haussmannian architectural transformation of the French capital.

It is here that he reflects with the mind of a flaneur.

And this was included in the 1861 edition.

the Parisian style architecture.

Yes, the buildings, the Haussmannian buildings and

like, you know, and and so I was like, this is a cute little town.

There's a beautiful like, you know, there's there's just it's very quaint, very Parisian.

So like the Napoleonic Code under Napoleon I, the increased like postal system under Napoleon I, and the modernization of the sewer system in Paris.

The Haussmannization, which was the process of the city planner...

Oh, so the sewer system comes later.

Haussmannization, which is the process of Baron Haussmann creating the streets wi- the sort of avenues that are wider in Paris.

It was like this medieval city, so he made these like modern wide streets so that cars could come in eventually, and it just becomes the, the picturesque Paris that we think of.

Also increased rights for women and the ability for workers to unionize under Napoleon III.

This is where you have the Hôtel de Ville, the city hall.

You have many Haussmannian buildings, many Paris-style buildings.

And then on the right side of the rivers you have Part-Dieu, which is the new modern business center of Lyon.

Right.

So because Lyon started in Vieux Lyon and at the top of the hill, Fourvière, you have the old section that's the closest.

I believe it's kind of like a brownish color roof.

In the middle you have the Haussmannian.

Those are more red tile, and then at the very end you have the modern.

And in that regard, you can always find echoes, uh, elsewhere.

Yeah, it's, it's a very fascinating echo as well, and there, there is a kind of aspect of Haussmannization in, in a lot of the developments that are happening in the desert with the new administrative capital.

Um, and I got that sense as well in, in Cairo.

Obviously, it's a huge city.