Draft:Parisians

Parisians (French: Parisien, male; and Parisienne; female) are the people of Paris, the capital of France, and a key part of the French people. Paris existed under the name Lutetia during Antiquity and then became the original cradle of the Kingdom of France in the 10th century, of which it was the capital. This cosmopolitan city has developed its unique culture as it expanded from the Île de la Cité, shaping its distinct social geography: the bourgeois west includes neighborhoods like Auteuil, Passy, and Boulogne; the working-class northeast encompasses Montmartre, La Goutte d'Or, and La Villette; and the industrious south includes areas such as Olympiades, Montparnasse, and Javel. Historically working-class districts like La Bastille and Montmartre, known for their revolutionary uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries, have now become gentrified. Located in the Marais district of Paris, the Musée Carnavalet traces the history of the city and its inhabitants.

The Seine River divides the city into two distinct halves. The Rive Gauche ("left bank"), an intellectual and academic hub, houses the Sorbonne, literary cafes like Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, Montparnasse's theaters and cinemas, and museums such as Orsay and Bourdelle. Rive Droite ("right bank") focuses on business and commerce, featuring Les Halles, the Galeries Lafayette, the Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, the Stock Exchange, and Châtelet. Parisian life is characterized by a unique art of living, with cultural activities centered around major theaters like the Comédie-Française, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Les Bouffes du Nord; operas at the Palais Garnier and Opéra Bastille; and iconic restaurants and brasseries such as Bouillon Chartier, Les Deux-Magots, Café de la Paix, Au Chien qui Fume, and La Closerie des Lilas. The city boasts renowned museums like the Louvre, Orsay, Petit Palais, Centre Pompidou and Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, alongside notable landmarks including the Arc de Triomphe, the Tour Eiffel, Panthéon, and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Its cultural and political importance was already highlighted by King Francis I in his time: "Paris is not a city, it is a country." ("Paris n'est pas une ville... c'est un pays").

Paris, with its rich revolutionary heritage, has seen Parisians develop a reputation for defiance, epitomized by Victor Hugo’s character Gavroche in Les Misérables. From the storming of the Bastille in 1789 to the uprisings of August 1792, the July Revolution of 1830, the republican insurrections of 1832 and of 1848, the Commune following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and the events of May 1968, Paris has a deep-rooted leftist political stance. This often led to a wary relationship with political power, exemplified by the long absence of a mayor from 1871 until the position was restored in 1977. The romanticized "titi parisien" image is a product of this revolutionary spirit..

Yves Saint-Laurent, Dalida, Charles Aznavour, and Zazie are emblematic Parisian personalities. Paris is a global city that has throughout its history attracted crowds of foreign visitors drawn by the Parisian art de vivre. Considered a true "metropolis of art" by Théophile Gautier, renowned artists and intellectuals from abroad have lived a part of their lives or visited, such as painters Marc Chagall, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, and Hale Asaf, composer Jacques Offenbach (who immortalizes the Parisian art of living in his operetta La Vie Parisienne), writers Curzio Malaparte, Ernest Hemingway, Eugene Ionesco, Thomas Mann, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, and Mario Vargas Llosa, philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walter Benjamin, sculptors Mary Cassatt and Anna Goloubkina, directors Costa-Gavras and Charlie Chaplin, politicians Zhou Enlai, Ho Chi Minh, Konstantinos Karamanlis during the Greek junta, and many others. Paris has also been a refuge for intellectuals persecuted in their own countries due to their political views, sexuality, or race. This includes figures like Oscar Wilde, James Joyce (whose works were deemed obscene in the USA and Britain), Josephine Baker and James Baldwin, ostracized in the USA for his homosexuality and race.

Etymology
The terms Parisien and Parisienne come from the Gaulish toponym Parisii, referring to the Celtic people who settled permanently at the current site of Paris from the 3rd century BCE: the Parisii. The current demonym dates back to 310 CE, when the city adopted its modern name, replacing the Latin name Lutetia. The Parisii, a Gaulish tribe, were connected to another Gaulish tribe, the Senones, who lived further upstream along the Seine River. In 390 BCE, the Senones' chief, Brennus, and his soldiers sacked the city of Rome.

The exact origin of the word Parisii is uncertain, as the Celtic language remains poorly understood today. This uncertainty is compounded by the fact that Celtic was primarily an oral language with few written records. Some fanciful and mythical etymologies have linked the name Parisii to the Greek prince Paris of Troy and to the Egyptian goddess Isis (Par-Isii). However, more plausible explanations suggest the name could mean "border people" (a toponymy proposed by archaeologist Jacques-Antoine Dulaure), "provocateurs, those who command" (proposed by philologist Alfred Holder), or "those who make cauldrons," as cauldrons played a significant role in Celtic civilization (suggested by linguist Xavier Delamarre).

Social anthropology
One of the key aspects of Paris's anthropology is its history as a center of cultural exchange and intellectual debate. From the Age of Enlightenment to the modern era, Paris has served as a hub for artistic and intellectual movements, from the Impressionists to the Surrealists, and from the Existentialists to the Feminists.

The city's social and economic stratification is a crucial anthropological factor in its local culture. Paris has a long history of social inequalities, with neighborhoods and districts representing distinct social and cultural identities. From the affluent 16th arrondissement to the immigrant communities in the 18th arrondissement, Paris is a city of contrasts with a diverse population composed of people from various cultures and backgrounds. This diversity is encapsulated by Honoré de Balzac's famous saying, inspired by Parisian life: "Paris is a true ocean. You can cast your lead into it, but you will never know its depth." The city's social geography dates back to the Middle Ages, with eastern districts like Faubourg Saint-Marcel around the Bièvre river contrasting with central areas like Châtelet, the Louvre Palace, and the Île de la Cité as the political heart, and the wealthier residential west including Auteuil and the Château de Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne, built for King Francis I. Urban planning by Baron Haussmann further accentuated this west-east contrast. Café-chantant on Boulevard du Temple and in the Charonne district (like La Flèche d'Or) are emblematic of northeastern Paris.

Another significant contrast is between the two banks of the Seine in Paris. Rive Gauche is considered the intellectual center of the city, with institutions like the University of Sorbonne, the Académie française, Paris-Cité University, the Collège de France, the École Normale Supérieure and the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, as well as literary cafes in Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Prés such as Brasserie Lipp, Closerie des Lilas, La Rotonde, Au Chien qui fume, and La Coupole. Conversely, the Rive Droite is more bourgeois, featuring the Triangle d'Or ("Golden Triangle") of the 8th arrondissement, home to luxury boutiques like Chanel, Balenciaga, Bulgari, Dior, and Louis Vuitton. The most prestigious Parisian hotels are also on the Right Bank, such as Le Crillon and Le Meurice at Place de la Concorde, the George V near the Champs-Élysées, and Le Bristol in Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Most embassies, including those of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation, are located on the Right Bank; additionally, the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is in the Château de la Muette in the chic 16th arrondissement.

La Parisienne
"'Fashion dominates provincials, but Parisian women dominate fashion.' Rousseau"The Parisienne is an essentializing cliché that portrays women of Paris as haughty, always well-dressed, and very elegant, with refined, liberated, and somewhat bold manners. These latter characteristics became popular during the Second French Empire and the Belle Époque with the rise of the cocottes, a type of courtesan. The Parisienne is seen as beautiful, dressing well and "effortlessly" due to her natural grace.

The stereotype of the Parisian woman began to take shape in the early 19th century, as Parisian fashion and lifestyle gradually became influential and iconic. The literary salons of the 18th century, followed by those of the Directoire era, were led by famous women like Germaine de Staël and Juliette Récamier. Fashion, associated with a certain form of elegance tinged with snobbery, became the main stereotypes linked to the Parisian woman. This cliché was widely perpetuated by chroniclers of the Belle Époque, leading Théodore de Banville to write in Le Génie des Parisiennes (1876), "Parisian women imagine, perfect, and complete a real and living work at every moment, for they create themselves." During the 1900 Exposition Universelle, a 6.5-meter-high statue named La Parisienne was inaugurated by President Émile Loubet. Positioned atop the entrance gate of the exposition, her blue ball gown further contributed to the collective imagination surrounding the Parisian woman. Ernest Hemingway was baffled by the Parisian women during his time in Paris, writing that "the women of this city are incomprehensible... when spring or fall arrives, they refuse to wear an outfit that is still new, claiming they wore it the previous year, in spring or fall." The modern stereotype of the Parisian woman is embodied by figures such as fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin, businesswoman Inès de la Fressange and actress Catherine Deneuve..

This stereotype is now being challenged for promoting an essentialized image of women's bodies, implying they must be naturally beautiful, white-skinned, and graceful. In 2022, French journalist and essayist Rokhaya Diallo deconstructed this cliché in her documentary La Parisienne démystifiée ("Demystifying the Parisienne"), showcasing the diversity of Parisian women. Rokhaya Diallo explains that France's patriarchal nature has influenced its imagery, which has been shaped by gender dynamics and the stereotypes they entail. This imagery is crafted to promote Paris internationally, she added, portraying an idealized image. The portrayal often seen in shows like Emily in Paris, which coincidentally premiered during the making of the documentary, perpetuates this idealized view. On the other hand, according to Karl Lagerfeld or Caroline de Maigret, La Parisienne is not about one's skin color or social background, but about elegance and individual style. Journalist Virginie Mouzat suggests that "being Parisian is unquestionably a matter of taste." While models like Bettina Graziani epitomize the stereotype of the white, bourgeois Parisian woman, Jamaican-born model Grace Jones emerged as a Parisian fashion icon under the mentorship of Yves Saint-Laurent, reshaping the perception of what it means to be a Parisian. In the end, according to writer Amélie Nothomb, "The Parisienne is a legend, therefore, she exists more than other women, and this for eternity".

Cuisine
Parisians have developed a distinct cuisine that has enriched traditional French gastronomy with their culinary creations. The pinnacle of Parisian gastronomy was reached in the 19th century when its influence spread worldwide. This culinary excellence was partly driven by the high society and, in particular, the chefs of the royal court, as Paris was the home of French royalty. In the 17th century, cuisine and gastronomy gained unparalleled importance at the French court. The high standards of French gastronomy are exemplified by the tragic tale of François Vatel, the Prince of Condé’s chef, who committed suicide in April 1671 when a delayed fish delivery threatened a grand banquet he was organizing.

The oldest restaurant in Paris still in operation is La Tour d’Argent, which opened in 1582. It was there that King Henry III of France reportedly discovered the fork. Cardinal Richelieu, First Minister to Louis XIII, was also a regular, and King Louis XIV and his court would travel from Versailles to dine there. The American financier John Pierpont Morgan famously stole a bottle of Fine Napoléon cognac from its cellars, a bottle of which only two existed. Another historic restaurant, La Petite Chaise, opened in 1680 and was frequented in the 19th century by writers George Sand and Chateaubriand. François Mitterrand, when a student, had his own reserved seat there. Le Procope, which opened in 1686 and is still active, was the favorite haunt of philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century. Franklin is said to have conceived elements of the future United States Constitution on a table at Le Procope, where the emblematic dish is tête de veau en cocotte, served since the restaurant's opening

A towering figure in French gastronomy, Marie-Antoine Carême, born in Paris, was among the first chefs to gain international fame. He created the pièce montée, pastries that could reach considerable heights. Viewing culinary art as a branch of architecture, Carême designed his pastries with great taste, drawing inspiration from Italian Renaissance urban planners. He gained international renown when he became the personal chef to Talleyrand, accompanying him to the Congress of Vienna in 1815, where Talleyrand's table became famous among foreign diplomats. The most famous aspect of Parisian gastronomy is la viennoiserie, exemplified by the croissant. Originally invented in Vienna in the 16th century, it gained popularity in Paris after being introduced by August Zang in 1839 and perfected by French pastry chefs. Parisian cuisine boasts a wide variety of local fruits and vegetables, such as mushrooms cultivated in caves, Montmorency cherries, Croissy carrots, Montreuil peaches, and Argenteuil asparagus. Iconic Parisian cheeses include brie from the nearby Brie region, coulommiers, and fontainebleau. Parisian cuisine is also known for its poultry and ham, enjoyed in various forms, from simple plates with butter to croque-monsieur. Notable meat dishes include entrecôte Bercy, beef miroton, boudin noir, escalope parisienne, and Parisian sausage seasoned with spices and garlic. The baguette is the quintessential Parisian bread, though other varieties like pain Briare and pain Vexin also exist. Parisian pastries include the saint-honoré, made with Chantilly cream, pastry cream, and sugar-glazed choux puffs; the mille-feuille, consisting of three layers of puff pastry and two layers of pastry cream, topped with icing or fondant, sometimes with added jam and fruit; the opera cake, with layers of chocolate ganache and coffee buttercream; and almond-based financiers. Typical Parisian dishes served in brasseries across the city include soupe à l'oignon (onion soup), steak frites, croque-monsieur (and its variant croque-madame, topped with a fried egg), and matelote d’anguille, a stew made with eel and red wine.

In terms of beverages, the wine from the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés was renowned in medieval times, and Montmartre was known for its abundant vineyards. However, some local wines, such as the wine from Argenteuil, were of poor quality. The beer industry saw a boom in the late 19th century, producing the quintessentially Parisian beer, Gallia.

Along with the brasserie and café, the "bouillon" is a typical type of restaurant in Paris. In the 19th century, Paris saw the emergence of worker restaurants offering hot meals at affordable prices. A Parisian butcher from Les Halles concocted a beef stew in his "bouillon," which originally gave the establishment its name. The Bouillon Chartier is the most emblematic of these establishments. Founded in 1896 by brothers Camille and Édouard Chartier, they revived and popularized the concept with the ambition of providing a decent meal at a modest price. With the slogan "There is no bouillon like Chartier's," the Chartier brothers opened several of these Art Deco-style restaurants throughout the capital. Today, Bouillon Chartier can be found in the Montparnasse district, the Grands Boulevards area, and near the Gare de l'Est.

A wide range of international flavors is also found in Parisian cuisine, reflecting the diversity of the city's population, including North African, Middle Eastern, Asian, and other influences.

Language
The Parisian dialect is the variant of French spoken by Parisians. Social markers, accents, intonation, and vocabulary betray the speaker's social background, residential area, and even profession. The Parisian language spoken in salons and upscale neighborhoods of Paris blends with standard French. Moreover, it was long considered fashionable for provincial bourgeoisie to mimic the Parisian upper class, particularly by adopting a sharp accent

This dialect is characterized by the omission of certain syllables, especially those containing the letter "e." For instance, while in standard French, the word for "week" is "semaine," in Parisian speech, it's pronounced "s'maine." A sentence like "Cette semaine, alors que je mettais ma chemise, j'ai vu un cheval par la fenêtre" (This week, as I was putting on my shirt, I saw a horse through the window) would be said in Parisian dialect as "Cette s'maine, alors que j'mettais ma ch'mise, j'ai vu un ch'val par la f'nêtre."

The /k/ and /ɡ/ sounds are sometimes palatalized, the /ɑ̃/ tends toward [ɒ̃], and the unstressed /a/ tends toward [ɛ]. The Parisian dialect has evolved since the late 19th century, when linguists began to take a keen interest in how Parisians expressed themselves. It mainly depends on social class and geographical distribution: there is a specific accent for bourgeois families in the western neighborhoods of the city (Auteuil, Neuilly, and Passy, known as the "Auteuil, Neuilly, Passy" accent); likewise, residents of eastern neighborhoods have their own accent, more slangy, symbolized by the "titi parisien," which refers to a street-smart child of Paris from the working class, mischievous with an in-depth knowledge of the city.

Parisians tend to speak calmly and avoid superlatives, especially when praising someone or something. Common expressions like "C’est énorme !" (It's enormous!), besides its literal meaning, are used to express astonishment and enthusiasm towards anything – whether big or small.

Christianity
Urbanism and architecture in Paris are considerably influenced by Christianity, which holds a predominant place there. France, since the conversion to Christianity of Clovis in 481, the first of the kings of France, has historically been seen as "the eldest daughter of the Church." The first bishop of Paris was Denis in the 3rd century, when he was the bishop of Lutetia. He became a martyr of the Catholic Church after being persecuted by the Romans. He was beheaded in the present-day Montmartre district, and on this site, in the following centuries, the Abbey of Montmartre and the crypt of the martyrdom of Saint Denis were erected. In the 6th century, Genevieve of Paris became, through her heroic resistance to the invasion of Paris by Attila, a martyr and the patron saint of the city. In the following centuries, monasteries and abbeys were built in the outskirts of the city of Paris. The Church and the Catholic religion structured Parisian life in the medieval period. It was the nobles of the Île-de-France, as much as the bourgeois of the city, who gave their daughters to Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, a Cistercian convent open to the city and its suburbs throughout the 13th century. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, the Notre-Dame cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built in the Gothic style and became an emblematic monument of the city. Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the five minor basilicas of Paris. On the square of the Notre-Dame cathedral is the kilometric zero point, which is the starting point of all roads in France. During the Middle Ages, the Abbey of Cluny (which now houses the Museum of medieval art) and the Abbey of Saint-Germain des Prés were built. All religious buildings were nationalized during the French Revolution and declared property of the state. In 1905, the law separating churches and the State no longer considered ministers of religion as civil servants, and all religious buildings became state-owned, with the responsibility of maintenance and restoration falling on the State.

Judaism
The Jewish community settled in the Paris Basin during the Roman conquests in the 1st century BC. Traces of the first Jews have been found in what is now the 5th arrondissement of Paris, on the left bank of the Seine, where the Church of Saint Julien le Pauvre is located today. Once, a synagogue seems to have been built there. In 1182, King Philip Augustus decided to expel the Jews from the capital: synagogues were converted into churches and buildings owned by Jews were sold for the king's profit. With the sums thus raised, the sovereign built the dungeon of the Vincennes castle and a surrounding wall around the woods. The expulsion of the Jews was thus the origin of the establishment of the old markets of Paris. In the 13th century, under the authority of Rabbi Yéhiel, the Jewish School of Paris experienced its great influence. On June 6, 1242, following a theological disputation between the rabbi and Nicholas Donin, an apostate Jew, King Louis IX had all copies of the Talmud found in the capital burned on the Place de Grève (now Place de l'Hôtel de Ville). Rabbi Yéhiel definitively left France and went on to create a new school in Acre. In 1394, Charles VI issued a decree of expulsion prohibiting Jews from residing in Paris. It was not until four centuries later, during the Age of Enlightenment, that they were allowed to return to the city. Paris was an important center for Jewish culture, and the Parisian rabbinate was particularly influential in the community. The city welcomed many intellectuals and personalities such as Rabbi Shlomo ben Meir, Rabbi Jacob ben Meir Tam, Matthias Gaon, Chaim ben Hananel Hakohen, Elijah Ben Judah, Jacob Ben Siméon, and the Babbin Yehiel of Paris, who headed the famous Yeshiva rabbinic school in the 13th century. In 1789, with the French Revolution, Jews were made full citizens, and all discriminatory measures against them were abolished: Jews became equal citizens like others. In the 19th century, the Jewish community of Paris doubled, from 12,000 to 25,000 people. In 1862, the Nazareth Synagogue was inaugurated, followed in 1867 by the Grand Synagogue of Paris. During the Occupation, the Jews of Paris were subjected to a roundup on July 16 and 17, 1942; arrested, they were transferred and temporarily confined to the Vel d'Hiv velodrome in the 15th arrondissement before being deported. In 1998, the Museum of Art and History of Judaism opened its doors in the Marais district, tracing the history of Jews in the capital and in France. The Mémorial de la Shoah, dedicated to the Holocaust, opened in January 2005. The Jewish community of Paris today numbers 300,000 people, making it the largest Jewish community in France.

Islam
The Muslim presence in Paris is a relatively recent development. In the early 20th century, the first mosque was constructed in the Bois de Vincennes, only to be demolished in 1926 upon the completion of the Grand Mosque of Paris. This initial mosque in the Bois de Vincennes was specifically erected for French soldiers from North Africa who practiced the Muslim faith and had come to fight during World War I. The construction of the Great Mosque near the Jardin des Plantes in the mid-1920s aimed to honor all French Muslim soldiers who had sacrificed their lives for France. Alongside the mosque, an Islamic institute, library, and conference hall were established. Interestingly, contrary to the provisions of the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, it was the French government that provided the funding of 500,000 francs for the construction of the Grand Mosque. During the inauguration of the Grand Mosque, attended by the Sultan of Morocco Moulay Youssef and then French President Gaston Doumergue, the enduring friendship between France and the Muslim community was celebrated. This friendship was acknowledged as having been forged in the shared sacrifices on the battlefields of Europe, with Doumergue affirming the French Republic's commitment to protecting all beliefs. Throughout the German occupation of Paris from 1940 to 1944, the Grand Mosque provided refuge for resistance fighters, families, and Jewish children, although the exact number of those sheltered remains unknown. Presently, Paris boasts around twenty mosques, with the Grand Mosque being the only one equipped with a minaret, in accordance with French legislation prohibiting the construction of additional minarets.

Famous quotes
The Parisian life has inspired a plethora of aphorisms and quotes, characterized by its romanticism as well as the reputed snobbery of its inhabitants.


 * "In Paris, there are taxes on everything, everything is sold, everything is manufactured, even success." - Honoré de Balzac
 * "Paris is the grand reading room of a library traversed by the Seine." - Walter Benjamin
 * "Paris, the farthest point from paradise, nevertheless remains the only place where it is good to despair." - Emil Cioran
 * "God invented the Parisian so that foreigners could understand nothing about the French." - Alexandre Dumas
 * "England built London for its own use, and France built Paris for the whole world." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
 * "To be unable to do without Paris is a mark of stupidity; to no longer love it is a sign of decline." - Gustave Flaubert
 * "Paris outraged, Paris broken, Paris martyred, but Paris liberated!" - Charles de Gaulle
 * "To be a Parisian is not to be born in Paris, but to be reborn there." - Sacha Guitry
 * "If you are lucky enough to have lived as a young man in Paris, wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." - Ernest Hemingway
 * "The women of this city are incomprehensible: when spring or autumn comes, they refuse to wear clothes that are still new, on the pretext that they wore them the previous year, in spring or autumn." - Ernest Hemingway
 * "To save Paris is more than to save France, it is to save the world." - Victor Hugo
 * "Whoever looks into the depths of Paris gets dizzy. Nothing is more whimsical, more tragic, more superb." - Victor Hugo
 * "The true Parisian does not love Paris, but he cannot live elsewhere." - Alphonse Karr
 * "Paris is so small for those who love each other with such great love." - Jacques Prévert
 * "The air of Paris is so bad that I always boil it before breathing." - Erik Satie