#265 Paris

Paris is very old — there has been a settlement there for at least 6,000 years and its shape has been determined in [2] by the River Seine, and in part by the edicts of France' s rulers. But the great boulevards we admire today are relatively new, and were constructed to prevent any more barricades being [4] by the rebellious population; that work was carried out in the middle 19th century. The earlier Paris had been in part a maze of narrow streets and alleyways. But you can imagine that the work was not only highly expensive, but caused great distress among the half a million or so whose houses were razed, and whose neighborhoods disappeared. What is done cannot usually be undone, especially when buildings are torn .