Place Paul Eluard

Place Paul Eluard is a small, paved square tucked away in the eighteenth arrondissement, marked by a stone plaque honoring the French poet who wrote of resistance and love during the Second World War. Before it became a place for public assembly, the site served as part of the neighborhood’s dense network of working-class housing and workshops. Its current shape reflects the mid-twentieth century urban clearing projects that pried open space in the middle of these narrow streets to let in the light.