VV(18): Gare du Nord

[Dave Monroe]

"The clock inside the Gare du Nord ..." (V., Ch. 14, Sec. i, p. 393)

That is, the Station of the North, the North Station ...

"The Gare du Nord started with big ambitions on 25 June 1846, as the 
terminus of the line to Belgium.  The line in fact, went as far as Creil, 
via Pontoise. Creil is about two-thirds of the way to Compiègne.  From 
another source I see that rails ran all the way to the Belgian border as 
early as the end of 1846.

"In 1863 the original Gare du Nord was taken apart and moved to Lille, while 
a new 'monumental' one was built in Paris.  This was expanded in 1898 with a 
building to the east, which is now a RER entry.  Statues representing the 
grand northern towns of Lille, Amiens, Boulogne, Arras and others, are on 
top of the facade of the centre part of the station, facing the boulevard de 
Denain.

"Paris' first train line ran out to Saint-Germain-en-Laye and it was         
           opened in 1836, and one called it 'the big dipper'--a toy to 
amuse the public.  A line to Versailles followed in 1839 and ran along the 
right bank, from about where Saint-Lazare is today.  Versailles was a 
popular destination, and the 'left-bank' line from Montparnasse opened in 
1840; as did a line to Corbeil, which ran from the Jardin des Plantes.  By 
1859, Paris had eight principal stations."

http://www.paris.org/Kiosque/jul97/dunord.html

And while I don't see a "clock inside," a couple of views of the clock 
outside at ...

http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/bycountry/france/paris/stations/Gare-du-Nord/

Beware the wraparound on that URL ...
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