It was a rainy day in Paris when I passed by a charming umbrella store that repairs the ‘parapluies à Paris‘.
It’s located in narrow Passage l’Ancre in the third arrondissement. Ancre means ‘anchor’ and the maritime reference dates back to an inn run by a man who did work for the Royal Navy. Note the mermaid sign that hangs in the passage.
However, the pretty windowboxes mask a sad history.
In the past, most of the people who lived in the Passage were Jews who were rounded up as part of the Vel’ d’Hiv’. In 1942, more than 15,000 Jews were rounded up by French police. Some were taken directly to the concentration camp at Drancy and thousands of others were sent to the Vélodrome d’hiver (winter velodrome). There were no bathrooms, only one water tap and very little food. They were kept there in terrible conditions for five days and later sent to extermination camps. The Passage was left abandoned. It was restored in 1998.
Cynthia Tuttelman (aka "Tut") is a writer, family doctor and quilter who lives in Northern California and part-time each year in Paris, France. Follow along and explore the wonders of Paris.