The Paris district where Parisians are priced out
In DepthIn 50 years, the 8th arrondissement of the French capital, home to the Champs-Elysées and the 'Golden Triangle,' has lost nearly half its population. The mass acquisition of real estate by ultra-wealthy foreigners has driven locals out.
Tucked away at the end of a small pedestrian lane opening onto Rue Marbeuf, near the luxury Berluti shoe boutique, the Robert-Estienne school is holding out. This year, it was forced to close a class. Enrollment has dropped sharply. It is the last primary school in the "Golden Triangle," the upscale district of the 8th arrondissement of Paris, bounded by the Champs-Elysées, Montaigne and George-V avenues.
On a recent September morning, two parents dropping off their child, arriving precisely at 8:30 am, had made the journey from the 18th arrondissement. "Our children are in a music-focused class (...) that welcomes students from all over," explained the mother. "Without this particular class, our school would have closed."
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