Words - Ossian Jones
Photography - Superfast Photography
Before 10am on a Sunday, Place Vauban in the center of Paris sleeps, quietly, basking in the morning sun. As a distant clock chimes for the tenth time, the most attentive of ears can notice a faint rumble in the distance, getting louder, and closer. Swinging round into the square, a Porsche 911 abruptly pulls up behind a Citroen DS21 outside the ‘Le Vauban’ cafe, a well-known meeting place for the car enthusiasts of Paris. A glimpse of hope, that the rumored meet was actually going ahead, but a sad thought that I could have had another hour in bed.
Located a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower, and just behind the golden-domed Hotel des Invalides, Place Vauban is a focal point of a residential district with tall Haussmann-style buildings, flowerbeds, and micro parks between streets. Place Vauban is a vast, open expanse of Napoleonic proportions, the perfect home for a picturesque gathering of some of the most iconic cars.
So, every Sunday, the square transforms into the meeting place for Parisian car enthusiasts, who gather for a coffee, a croissant, to talk with their friends, and to look in awe at the lovingly maintained engines of their peers’ cars. I couldn’t help but hear more engines darting through the calm metropolis that is the 7th arrondissement, and as if, like a well-timed dance, practiced to perfection, they converge, appearing one by one. Following each other through the square, each of them trying to find the rapidly disappearing parking spaces in the now slightly livelier side street.
By quarter past 10, the street was full of cars, and enthusiasts all gathered for their shared passion. There are rare and excitable cars, from American muscle to classic Porsches, Alpines, Ferraris, and even a MOSS Monaco, with a driver proudly dressed period-correct. It is clear that while many are there for the meet from owners to young car spotters, some have stumbled across the gem by accident, but most are going about their Sunday oblivious to the rarity of the cars lining the street, walking past with their dog or continuing the game of football on the grass. Taking a walk down the street to take in the beauty of the classics that journeyed out this morning, I talk to strangers in my broken French and their perfect English, about their story with their cars, each one fascinating and an owner equally as proud and happy.
After standing around and photographing the cars for about half an hour, a gentleman struck up a conversation with me and he told me he was one of the original founders of the meet, several years ago. He told me how it grew and grew until it became a victim of its own success, subsequently leading to the smaller meet they now hold with only car enthusiasts attending, actively discouraging supercars from using the meet to race and upset the local residents. As a result, the rendez vous is watched over attentively by the Police, mounted on bikes, admiring the spectacle of cars from afar. They do not break character or responsibility in order to make sure everything is as it should be and none of the supercar antics from the past take place.
If you find yourself at a loose end on a Sunday morning in Paris, or you love iconic cars with a French twist, the Place Vauban meet is the place for you.
