Forum des Halles

     ForumDesHalles       

This is the Forum des Halles↗. It is the second incarnation of the complex that replaced the old central Halles, the open markets immortalized by Émile Zola in Le ventre de Paris.

For eight hundred years, this area was the central market for Paris. Initially it included businesses of all types, but by the 1500s, it had specialized in just food.

Over time, it got more and more crowded, and by the 1900s, it was becoming a serious logistical problem. As a result, in 1969, the markets were moved to a vast area in the suburb of Rungis, very near Orly Airport to the south. A big empty space was left in this spot after the markets moved, and it was more or less a big hole in the ground for years (in fact, it was nicknamed le trou des Halles—“the hole of the Halles”—by the natives in consequence).

After several years, it was finally decided to transform the “hole” into the Forum des Halles, namely, a large and pretty park on the surface, a huge underground shopping center (now two shopping centers) beneath that, and the world’s largest underground subway station beneath that (the Châtelet-les-Halles station). This was quite successful. I have a picture of this old Form, if you’re interested. In 2023, the site was rebuilt again, leading to the complex you see here. Each transformation has been an improvement over its predecessor.

In this photograph, you can see the ground-level portion of the shopping centers. There is much, much more below ground. There is nothing wrong with the roof, even though it looks like it’s about to collapse; it’s designed that way, believe it or not.

The complex is always packed with people. The subway station alone accommodates several million passengers a day. Unfortunately, beng at the confluence of so many subway lines, this complex is a favorite destination of various dregs from the suburbs, who come here to loiter and sometimes engage in sketchy activities. The area is a bit dicey late at night.

In the days of the open markets, it was fashionable among certain parts of Parisian society to get up at five in the morning and eat fresh onion soup at les Halles. One or two of the restaurants that thrived in that era survive today, including *Au Pied du Cochon , which serves cooked pig’s feet even to this day, and remains quite popular. There are countless other restaurants and retail businesses in the area.

Photographed on June 13, 2026.