Dane Holt’s recent travels to Paris, as part of his ICOP Travel Award 2023, illustrate the opportunity offered by this bursary to develop and explore topics of personal artistic interest. This Travel Award allowed Dane to visit Place Saint-Sulpice, and to sit where Georges Perec had sat in 1974, when he was writing ‘An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris’.
This is a summary of Dane’s experience and an extract from Day 1 of his journal in Place Saint-Sulpice:
In 1974, Georges Perec spent a long, mostly wet weekend sat variously in four locations around Place Saint-Sulpice: Tabac Saint-Sulpice, Café de la Mairie, La Fontaine Saint-Sulpice and ‘on a bench in the sun, among the pigeons, looking in the direction of the fountain.’ His aim was to describe what he called elsewhere l’infra-ordinaire—what happens when nothing happens ‘except time, people, cars and clouds’…and pigeons, and ghostliness. The result was An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris. Two of the places Perec sat no longer exist. 50 years later, I sat for (roughly) the same amount of time in the two places that do.
For the most part I did little more than update Perec’s record with the technological advancements of the intervening half century: smart phones, e-scooters, vape pens etc., all things he’d endorse. Any repeated or overlapping occurrences are purely coincidental: weddings, Mass, sunlight. A few times I made a note of something before it had chance to happen—once a few micro-seconds; another time an hour or so. I know the same thing happened to him. Only once did he make note of someone taking his photo. This happened to me twice (as far as I’m aware).
It was out of character but Perec left a lot of Place Saint-Sulpice un-exhausted and I must thank him for that. Life goes on without your being in it. At least we hope so.
There are many things in Place Saint-Sulpice; for example…
Day 1
16 FEBRUARY 2024
12.40 AM
CAFÉ DE LA MAIRIE
OVERCAST, SLIGHT BREEZE, INTERMITTENT RAIN.
Outline of an inventory of some strictly observable things:
- Letters of the alphabet, words: two large Ps (for parking), one slightly larger than the other; on the café awning (I’m sat outside) Glaces Berthillon in gothic script and THES MARIAGE FRÉRES not in gothic script; G7 on an electric taxi; advert for a film ‘Chien & Chat’ (Cat & Dog); ‘Place Saint-Suplice’.
- Conventional symbols: arrows beneath each P, pointing in opposite directions but, because of their relation, towards the same place; sign for Taxi rank; restricted access sign (Accès Pompiers); two no entry sings; blue sign showing parent walking with child; no stopping; except for taxis, black and white crossing.
- Numbers: 70 (back of bus); 24/24 (on larger of two parking signs; green, flashing); 96 (bus), 5 (minutes until arrival); 63, 6; 70, 8; 84, 4.
- No fleeting slogan (that I can see);
- Stone: the curbs, a fountain, a church, buildings…
- Asphalt
- Trees (bare, February)
- Limited sky (awning extends almost onto the road)
- A clutch of pigeons on the far side of the plaza, walking not flying. Suddenly, at the sound of the church bell, they fly away.
- Vehicles (their inventory remains to be made)
- Human beings
- No dogs
Trajectories
The 86 goes to Champ-de-Mars
The 70 goes to Porte de Passy
The 63 goes to Porte de la Muette
The 96 goes to Gare Montparnasse
Colours
black taxis (3)
silver taxi (1)
Yellow holdall
Red scarf
Green bin
blue van (outside church)
M. Charirie blue van
Green rental bike.
Sudden activity. Two rows of people lining steps of church awaiting bride and groom. Bells have just stopped. Passers-by (not dressed like wedding party) stops and hold phones to take pictures.
Bride and groom arrive and stop at the foot of steps for pictures. 3 smartly dressed young boys at front.
Woman pushing a bicycle across plaza doesn’t stop to look.
I count 6 taxis in the taxi rank, all electric, one silver and the rest black. Black ones have a double pronged stem decal: one stem a charger, the other a leaf.
86 goes to Champ-de-Mars
White Fiat 500.
Larger crowd gathering outside church. Couple sit on a bollard to watch for a minute before moving on.
Two electric bicycles.
Bus: Sans Voyage.
Man with moustache on electric scooter.
Much transit. Green Lime bike (rental)
70 Suresnes de Gaulle.
White Peugeot van.
White Ford van with motorbike on the back.
Only fixed thing is the crowd outside the church again getting bigger every time I look. Didn’t notice man in Navy uniform. He’s shaking hands.
Man in white hoody crosses road towards them.
Man in grey sweatshirt gets in driver seat of blue van.
A few pigeons fly around the fountain and alight on the lip
Something important to consider: how much time observing and how much writing
Three members of the wedding party cross the road to the bus stop. Two girls (one wearing a hat) and one boy. They seem to be in their late teens.
Man in green coat and cowboy boots.
Wedding party begins to disperse.
63 pulls in, almost full.
86 pulls in, almost empty.
Members of the wedding party get on neither.
Wedding party all but gone. Realise I’ve been neglecting the plaza itself.
Woman appears from the underground car park wearing a wool coat. 4 of the wedding party go down into the car park, one in a bowtie carrying a plastic box.
3 people resting against the lip of the fountain. One couple, one alone in blue puffer jacket.
Wedding party completely gone. Didn’t see which bus the three got on.
Woman on a red motorbike. 96 to Gare Montparnasse full, standing room only. Renault truck pulls in behind bus then reserves, pulls in again.
Two couples (assumption) stop at fountain.
One o’clock. Lull.
20-30 pigeons gather with some interest. Didn’t see where Renault driver went. Hazards on. Doubt he came into the café; cannot see him delivering anywhere.
Gets in van and pulls away.
I haven’t seen anyone get in a taxi. Some pull away with no fare and others take their place.
Distinct slowing of rhythm (in general)
Dark blue smart car remonstrates with taxi blocking the entrance to carpark.
Became much colder much quicker.
Man with pink scarf and duffel coat buttoned up cycles past.
Two people nearly run into each other crossing the road.
70, half empty.
Younger man in tan overcoat, formal trousers, black brogues crosses the road from the church.
Man struggles to persuade golden retriever to cross the road. 63 full. 96 empty
Red car goes underground
Man on Dott rental bike. Man in green suit and red scarf on bike, 60s?
Small terrier crosses the road with young blonde woman but turns back half way and goes to actual owner, woman in green quilted jacket talking on the phone, laughing. She’s the only person I’ve noticed wearing sunglasses.
Yellow car.
Couple next to me leave. Waiter throws the remaining water from their glasses into the road.
It is 13.15.
Observation of one thing seems to lead to significant uptake in occurrences of that thing. For instance, nobody seemed to take a taxi, then saw a couple take one. A few minutes later, 5-6 people take taxis. Same with vape pens: lack of them and then counted 12 people in a matter of minutes smoking them.
Black Mercedes minibus parks outside church.
The woman in sunglasses was not, it turns out, the dog’s owner. A woman walking a different dog (Retriever) has just had to stop traffic to prevent loose dog from being run over.
70. More taxis to replace other taxis.
A lot of people alight 86 and run over to the 70.
4 art students, three carrying large green folders, the other pulls a suitcase. They stop at a bench in plaza.
Ate a hot dog. 13.45
Warming up slightly. Sky is unmoving. Same uniform grey.
Man in purple jacket (parking attendant?) talks to an older man. 96.
Man in bandana parks moped at the entrance the carpark. 63.
Man with two walking sticks and canary yellow scarf crosses road.
One of the art students is standing up eating a baguette.
Someone (I didn’t see who) tied a Raleigh bicycle to a post. Yellow tires. Red and yellow decals.
A woman cycles around the plaza with a small child in a seat behind and sends pigeons flying around.
Man with moped feeds pigeons.
Drank too much coffee. Need a walk.
‘Dedicated to people flow’ on the side of a Fiat. Driver smokes. Reverses.
70.
A rickshaw tied next to the Raleigh.
14.00. Pause.