Chillin' in the Burbs (of Paris)... Asnieres

[urbanactivist]

My recent visit to the UK and France was a life-changing experience. Having little traveled so little outside the US, it was amazing to really experience other cultures than my own. Paris was particularly special... I got to see all of the breath-taking tourist sights, but instead of staying in a hotel, I got to stay with a friend in the suburbs, and in one small way, I got to observe "normal daily life" in Ile de France.




















Whoa... detached housing????
























































The ripped sign in the foreground says "GAZA!!... We won't forget!!"






The best thing about my friend's apt was these HUGE windows and all of the balconies. each window had a large balcony attached. AND he lives on the 10th floor.

















Tchao

[Nantais]

Interesting shots, especially the ones taken from your friend's flat.
Did you go to the rougher areas of Asnières Nord (infamous for its large housing projects, where, btw, some tower blocks were blowing down at the beginning of the summer) ?
I live in Nanterre, not so far from Asnières, and I used to be a teacher in the neighbouring town of Gennevilliers, so I know well this part of Paris' suburb.

[Minato Ku]

Thank you for these pictures.

Asnières sur Seine, the nothwest of the 92.
I also know well this area, I often walk between Asniere sur Seine suburban train station and Asniere Genevilliers Gabriel Peri metro station.
These pictures are close to Gabriel Peri.

Anyway we wee see the density of Asnières, it is hard to believe that we are not in Paris proper but a suburbs, a suburbs that doesn't even border the city proper of Paris.

We really need to elarge the border of Paris.

[ColDayMan]

Great stuff.

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by Nantais

Interesting shots, especially the ones taken from your friend's flat.
Did you go to the rougher areas of Asnières Nord (infamous for its large housing projects, where, btw, some tower blocks were blowing down at the beginning of the summer) ?
I live in Nanterre, not so far from Asnières, and I used to be a teacher in the neighbouring town of Gennevilliers, so I know well this part of Paris' suburb.

Merci Beaucoup

No, not that I'm aware of. I think where my friend lives is relatively safe, but I could tell that there were some project houses further up from us. There's a big red building on his street that was quite dilapadated and always had "shady characters there. It is right next to Gabriel Peri Metro station.

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

Thank you for these pictures.

Asnières sur Seine, the nothwest of the 92.
I also know well this area, I often walk between Asniere sur Seine suburban train station and Asniere Genevilliers Gabriel Peri metro station.
These pictures are close to Gabriel Peri.

Anyway we wee see the density of Asnières, it is hard to believe that we are not in Paris proper but a suburbs, a suburbs that doesn't even border the city proper of Paris.

We really need to elarge the border of Paris.

Yes, very true!!! It amazed me that it is classified as suburb just by being north of the river Seine. My friend told me that by moving just across the river, he was able to get a much larger apartment for 200 Euro less than if he had lived in Paris proper!

I thought Asnieres was really interesting. I didn't deliberately do a photo thread... these are just shots I snapped each day on my way to Central Paris for the really "touristy" stuff, or just going to the grocery store, etc. I know it's not award-winning photography, but I like to take snapshots of everyday areas just as much as places like Versailles.

[kool maudit]

bonhlyuh d'paree -- good stuff.

[Travis007]

Tres bien, great photo tour! Now this is a suburb done right.

[MolsonExport]

After my two trips to Paris, I would say that these shots are prototypical of the non-central ile de france. Good shots.

[OhioGuy]

Nice to see! Thanks for posting these.

[Samwill89]

Great photos!

I will have the amazing opportunity to live there (Latin Quarter) for a few months starting in 6 days! Anything off of the beaten path suggestions to keep me entertained? I would imagine that the major attractions would bore me after the first week or so.

[Nineties Flava]

That's the burbs? Damn. Nice pics

[mousquet]

This is a map of Paris metro area. BTW don't pay any attention to the names of the towns written on it, people who edited that map may have needed to point out those particular ones but they're insignificant to us here :



So that's one of metropolitan France's 22 regions (the whole country including overseas territories has 27), called Ile-de-France and divided as any French region into numbered administrative entities called départements. As shown on the map above, Ile-de-France is made of 8 départements :

Paris (75)
Seine-et-Marne (77)
Yvelines (78)
Essonne (91)
Hauts-de-Seine (92)
Seine-Saint-Denis (93)
Val-de-Marne (94)
Val-d'Oise (95)

Asnières-sur-Seine (or simply Asnières) featured in this thread is located in Hauts-de-Seine, one of the 3 inner, smaller départements adjacent to Paris. Those 3 are quite densely populated, they're actually nearly as dense as Paris itself. I think the main thing to keep them apart from the center is the périphérique boulevard surrounding Paris. That so-called boulevard is actually a damn freeway, an unfortunate barrier unfriendly as it can be from my point of view. Of course it's a symbolic frontier; as soon as you cross it to get out of the center, housing prices tend to decrease although they remain very high in the wealthiest suburban towns, especially in Hauts-de-Seine. But in Seine-Saint-Denis in particular, prices dramatically decrease since that département is still regarded the poorest and roughest of the region.
The 4 outer départements are totally different. That's where you want to live if you like the suburbia lifestyle : your single family home with a yard and that kind of stuff, which has some good points too.
For some historic reasons, Paris (75), Hauts-de-Seine (92) and Yvelines (78) are the wealthiest and best developed départements, you can enjoy a high standard of living in many places of those 3, at least if you've got enough money. They're the oldest developed areas. Large developments in the rest of the region started much later, I guess that's why they generally don't feel as pleasant.
The whole region count roughly 12 million inhabitants. Voilà, as always Wikipedia's your friend if you're curious and want some further info.

[Expat]

Great pictures. Very interesting.

Mousquet, thanks for the map.

[Greavsie]

thanks for the photos but a pretty bland and mediocre area this.

[Kingofthehill]

looks like buenos aires! especially the montserrat and congreso districts!