Octroi de Neuilly

The two small, identical stone pavilions facing each other across the street are the last remnants of the Octroi de Neuilly. Built in the seventeen eighties, these structures served as the toll gates for Paris. Officials stood here to collect taxes on goods like wine, wood, and livestock entering the city. During the construction of the tax wall, farmers and merchants tried every method to avoid the fees, occasionally hiding barrels of spirits beneath loads of hay until they reached the gate.