page_title: Paris during the Bourbon Restoration
section_title: The Palais-Royal
hierarchical_section_title: Paris during the Bourbon Restoration / Amusement / The Palais-Royal
caption_attribution_description: Promenades Aeriennes, Jardin Baujon (roller coaster at the Folie Beaujon) Paris, c. 1820. Etching, 25 x 45 cm
context_page_description: During the Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy that followed the downfall of Napoleon, Paris was ruled by a royal government which tried to reverse many of the changes made to the city during the French Revolution. The city grew in population from 713,966 in 1817 to 785,866 in 1831. During the period Parisians saw the first public transport system, the first gas street lights, and the first uniformed Paris policemen. In July 1830, a popular uprising in the streets of Paris brought down the Bourbon monarchy and began reign of a constitutional monarch, Louis-Philippe.
context_section_description: The Palais-Royal, with its arcades and gardens, shops, cafes and restaurants, remained the most famous destination for amusement in Paris.  Originally constructed as the residence of Cardinal Richelieu,  It became the property of the Orleans family, close relatives of the King.  In the 1780s, Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, badly in need of funds, Created arcades and galleries around the garden, rented them out to small shops and the first luxury restaurants in Paris, and opened the Palais-Royal it to the public.  In 1789 he  actively supported the  French Revolution,  renamed himself Louis-Egalité, renamed the Palais-Royal the Palais-Egalité, and voted for the death of his cousin Louis XVI, but nonetheless he was guillotined during the Reign of Terror.  His heir was Louis-Philippe I, who lived in exile during the Revolution and the Empire. He returned to Paris with the Restoration, and took up residence in one wing of what was again called the Palais-Royal. 
  During the Restoration, the Palais-Royal had, in and around its former gardens, three large arcades, one of stone (still existing), one of glass and one of wood (popularly known as the Campe des Tatares.   In 1807, shortly before the Restoration, they contained 180 shops, including twenty-four  jewelers, twenty shops of luxury furniture, fifteen restaurants,  twenty-nine cafes and seventeen billiards parlors. Shops in the galleries sold, among other things, perfume, musical instruments, toys, eyeglasses, candy, gloves, and dozens of other goods.  Artists painted portraits, and small stands offered waffles. The Palais-Royal attracted all different classes of Parisians, from the wealthy to the working class. 
  In the evenings, the shops closed and a different life began at the Palais-Royal. The basements had cafes which served drinks and inexpensive food, and had entertainment, ranging from music to ventriloquists and costumed "savages" dancing.  The best-known was the Café des Aveugles, famous for its orchestra of blind musicians.   The more elegant restaurants on the arcade level had extensive menus and wine lists, and served a wealthier clientele.   Upstairs, above the shops, were card rooms, where Parisians went to gamble.
  Besides shopping and restaurants, the Palais-Royal was also famous as the place to meet prostitutes;  as the evening advanced, they filled the galleries.  Between 1816 and 1825, the merchants of the Palais-Royal complained about the number of prostitutes, and asked that they not be allowed to do business between December 15 and January 15, when Parisians did their holiday shopping.  In 1829, the Prefect of Police finally closed the Palais to prostitutes.
caption: The first roller-coaster at Parc Beaujon  (1817).
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