[Andrew le Gourmand]

I am coming to Paris in October, the holiday is booked we are good to go and we are all looking forward to it, all except one thing. My little girl is a fan of the Madeline books and is determined to find the "Old house in Paris that was covered in vines" that features so prominently in them.

Does anyone know of a good candidate for the "Old house in Paris that was covered in vines" that features in the stories?

My daughter is confident that she can find it but...

Your help would be appreciated.
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"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."

[Erin]

I don't, but your daughter sounds beyond adorable and you will probably win some sort of daddy award for this.
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

[Debbie]

I agree with Erin. Too cute.

OK, house covered in vines sounds like one of the ones near us in Montmartre.

On the corner of rue Cortot and rue des Saules there is a fabulous old house which is covered in vines.

That one is easy to find. If you wander our quartier though you will find heaps that could fit the story. Especially rue l'Abreuvoir, avenue Junot (fabulous houses with wisteria all over them) Allee des Brouillards, rue Saint Vincent and Villa Leandre.

rue Saint Vincent also has the remnant woodland which is open on sundays. It is the only original woodland left in or around Paris. Tiny little space but really magical for kids as it looks like you could find anything as you turn a corner in the path.

If you buy a copy of the small map book "Paris Pratique" when you arrive you will find all of these streets listed in the 18th arrondissement. You can buy the book at a news stand or bookshop as well as places that sell postcards and other souvenir type things. Very cheap and well worth it. A pad of sticky notes to flag interesting things and you will be set for the trip - and afterwards you can look through and remember exactly where you went and what was so great in that part of town.

Hope that helps!
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If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

[Debbie]

P.S. These streets are near the Sacre Coeur and the Musee de Montmartre, etc etc etc so you will be in an area with other things to see and do also....
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If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

[clotilde]

Hello Andrew,

I got curious about your request and found this page that says,

[Andrew le Gourmand]

Clotilde, Debbie and Erin (for her kind words),

You rock.

A couple of weeks searching and you give me several possibles in less than 24 hours (and closer than my fallback, a friend's house near Compiegne).

On behalf of my daughter I thank you.

One day I will tell Isa that Madeline is not totally real but, for now, I think I will let her "discover" the house and decide if it's the one in rue l'Abreuvoir or one of the ones in the rue de Courcelles.

The search (for her) will be most of the fun.

I am so looking forward to seeing the city I love anew through her eyes (and my wife's as well).

I am so impatient now to be in Paris again,

Thank you,

Andrew
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"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."

[Andrew le Gourmand]

I just had a look at all the possibles &, for my money, the corner of rue Cortot and rue des Saules looks like a winner.

We'll let our young Madeline decide though.

Thank you all once again,

Andrew
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"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."

[Debbie]

Good choice. I have always thought that it looks like a house from a fairytale or some other story. Really rustic and old and smothered in vines!

Where Clotilde suggested is beautiful, but I think not so oldey worldey looking for a child. I will be checking it out though so I can take the godchildren there in July. Hopefully they will love being somewhere that is in their story books.
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If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

[David]

Madelaine isn't real??????
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

[David]

Madelaine isn't real??????
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

[Rachel]

Madeline has to be real, this is the first time I've ever heard otherwise...

If you're on the lookout for more Madeline sights, there's the Place de la Concorde (cover of Madeline and the Bad Hat) and the flower market on the Ile de la Cite (in the same book - at least, that's what the illustration looks like to me).

[David]

I have to say this is one of the most heartwarming and awwwwww inspiring threads I've encountered in our little C & Z world.
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

[Andrew le Gourmand]

What is real?

If my daughter believe's it is real that is good enough for me.

She is now telling my niece and her mother to tell me that she is already four because I said we would go to Paris when she was four...

Humm the flower market on the Ile de la Cite... The Place de la Concorde is mentioned in the first book but the flower market... We must go there I am having fun "finding" places and asking her if she thinks they look like places in the books.

I haven' had this much fun since the first time I went to Paris when I was 13... Of course part of that was a crush on my penfriend's older sister.
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"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."

[madameshawshank]

What a delightful thread!

Have been at a blues festival...a week of rain and mud ~ much fun and at the same time so beyond lovely to come to this

Andrew, do you know of the book Ludwig Bemelmans' grandson has written?

Bemelmans: The Life and Art of Madeline's Creator by John Bemelmans Marciano

http://www.aol.com.au/celebrity/story/Grandson-of-Ludwig-Bemelmans-revives-Madeline%27/1018411/index.html

Am quite sure the Paris visit will be full of joyous discoveries for your daughter..she sounds full of charm and with a keen mind! bon voyage..
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"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

[georgia]

Of probable interest to C&Zers is that Bemelmans had a passion for all things food/wine/restaurant related and he wrote widely on all of those topics. There's a lovely collection of his writings and drawings entitled La Bonne Table, by Ludwig Bemelmans, selected and edited by Donald and Eleanor Friede, published in 1989 by Godine. I don't know whether it's still in print, but it's worth seeking out.

Just last week I was reading Madeline with my almost-3-year old granddaughter when--wonder of wonders!--she started "reading" it to me! She's got it down pat. When Andrew decides which is the old house that is covered with vines, I want to know where it is, too. (Those poor residents will have a parade of gawkers strolling past their house...all of them carrying copies of Clotilde's book...some sort of secret society, to be sure )