I love the hodge-podge that is old French architecture. His apartment and the way to get to it reminds me of a missionary apartment I lived in when I served in Blois, France.
The building, built before Columbus discovered America, had a presence on the main street in town, La Rue Denis Papin. Where the barber/tattoo shop is, there was a Singer sewing store. "Singer" in French is a verb meaning "to behave like a monkey," which was fitting.
While we did have access to the building from the street, our address was actually on "Les Petits Degres St. Honore," a staircase from the main street to the level above.
Good ol' Number 12. From the main street, we had to go up two flights of stairs to get to our apartment. From this door, it was one flight down.
I loved that apartment. We had a bathroom, a tiny kitchen, and a living room that doubled as a bedroom. Part of the way through my stay there we had to swap apartments with the sister missionaries, who were living in a modern building on the ground floor, which wasn't as secure as the mission wanted for sisters so, alas, we had to move.
Back to M. Hulot. A commenter on the video posted above says he/she knew the building had been in their neighborhood, but has since been replaced by a car park. Just what Jacques Tati was commenting on in the film. Old vs. New.
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