Category: Maps

Passage du Clos Bruneau Paris 75005

I’m going to let you in on a little secret about Paris topography. The streets you see in front of you are just the surface; there are often entire old worlds discreetly hidden behind the facades of elegant Haussmann buildings that line the streets today- especially in the older areas of Paris like the Marais or the 5th arrondissement.

Walking through an open doorway or passage like this one can often give you the impression you stepped back into time. Here on the Rue des Écoles between Rue Monge and Rue Saint Jacques there is a secluded staircase only a few steps high, marked by a sign that says Passage du Clos Bruneau.

All that remains today is a short alleyway, but prior to the 12th century this was the location of a vineyard before becoming the Rue Judas in 1248, and finally the Rue du Clos Bruneau in 1838. Eventually the grapevines were replaced by books and printers to serve knowledge hungry students as more and more universities popped up in this neighborhood.

When the Latin Quarter found itself modernized in the mid-19th century, the wide and illustrious Rue des Écoles bulldozed through the narrow medieval streets that once used to run through here, erasing them and all the history they were built on.

The Rue du Clos Bruneau was fortunate and instead of being entirely demolished; it was just shortened and hidden behind the grand Haussmann buildings you see on the Rue des Écoles today. But not all was lost!

If you look at old photos taken before this area was leveled, you can still see a few surviving buildings that were spared, giving you a rare glimpse into pre-Haussmann Paris when you take this hidden passage detour. Look closely at the old photo and see if you can recognize the same buildings that remains today from the 1865 photo taken by Charles Marville. Match and compare the colored arrows.

Recap: 1780’s France VS USA: Who is physically superior ?

So Thomas Jefferson ran in the same Paris social circles with his friennemy Buffon and one night while dining at Chez Buffon, TJ decided to challenge his ridiculous claims that America’s moldy wetlands produced degenerate people and animals with a bold rebuttal. “You think America is inferior to France eh? Well you know what wise guy, we got Mooses so big that your pitiful French excuse for a Moose is small enough to walk under our big-ass Moose!”

Being a man of science as well as politics, Thomas knew his mouth couldn’t write a check his ass couldn’t cash, so he set out to prove himself right. However measurements or descriptions wouldn’t suffice and he wanted tangible evidence; something he could literally shove in Buffon’s face to say “THY FICTITIOUS ALLEGATIONS ARE AS RIDICULOUS AS YOUR LOW PONY TAIL BETCH”.

For over a year and despite other preoccupations like the American Revolution and his role to muster support in France; Thomas almost obsessively sought his proof. He begged hunting enthusiast friends to send him a moose with specific instructions. NEED MOOSE: MAKE IT BIG! The Governor of New Hampshire finally pulled through and a 7-10ft moose was shot and shipped to France.

When its carcass arrived months later, the moose was rotting, wearing impostor antlers, and most of its skin gone. But a BIG ASS BIGGER THAN FRANCE MOOSE it was. We don’t know too much about Buffon’s reaction to the moose after he received it with a post it stuck that read KEEP TALKING SHIT AND I’LL SEND YOU BIGFOOT; he died shortly after.

As for the moose itself, it seems to have disappeared, probably stuffed away somewhere in the vast caves of the Museum of Natural History of Paris. It is interesting to note that 250 years later, jokes on France for their reputation of having small stature. If you think about it, the only mega-fauna France is known for are giant rats and Gerard Depardiue.

If you are interested in learning more on this wacky but true subject (I only covered the surface), check out “Thomas Jefferson and the Moose” by Lee Dugatkin, click on the image here.

Special thanks to Lee for responding to my random message and sending me a signed copy of his fascinating book!

During the age of Enlightenment in the later half of the 18th century, America- the newly budding country full of savages, rebel colonials, and prudes- was regarded with doubt and suspicion by OG Europe.

In an obscure side note of Ridiculous History, a pre-presidency Thomas Jefferson assumed the responsibility of defending the honor of his country, to a somewhat comical degree, in one of the earliest acts of American Patriotism. While serving as American Ambassador in Paris during the mid 1780’s- he became obsessed with proving France wrong in the argument of who was.. bigger.

Today American may be known as the land of Super-Sized everything; food portions, houses, PEOPLE, but in the 18th century, there was a widespread belief that things in the new world were… weak, feeble, and physically inferior.

George Louis Leclerc, Compte of Buffon as well as scientist, naturalist, mathematician, and Boss Man of the king’s royal garden (today the Jardin des Plantes) wrote in his highly influential 36 volume Natural History Encyclopedia that due to its excessive swamp land and muggy climate; everything in America- from its soil, to its plants, to its animals, even the native Americas living there- were degenerate; smaller and weaker than their European counterparts.

He even went as far as to claim that those who decided to live in the New Word, would damn their future bloodlines to be as degenerate as their livestock! When Thomas Jefferson heard of this ballsy claim, he called bullshit. Trash Talking Buffon had never even BEEN to America! Jefferson knew he had to stand up for his beloved baby country but how was he to prove America was not the degenerate wasteland Buffon made it out to be from France?

SEE PART TWO FOR THE ANSWER!

Winter and Spring 2022 Update

What I’ve been up to for the first half of 2022

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022