1891 PBP Start

[cygnet]

Odd question I know, but does anyone know where in Paris PBP started in 1891 (or Paris Roubaix in 1896)?

I've got as far as Porte Maillot - the Ave de la Grande Armee. Can anyone be a bit more specific?

Thanks

[Exit Stage Left]

Outside the offices of the Petit Journal, 61 Rue La Fayette, http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_La_Fayette
Here's an engraving of the event.

[Exit Stage Left]

The  first Paris-Roubaix started at Brasserie L'Esperance, 36 Rue Saint Michel, Pont-L'Eveque.

[cygnet]

Thanks ESL.
Streetview shows the Petit Journal building has been replaced now sadly. Le Velo sponsored the second running of PBP I think so I got a bit mixed up.
For Paris-Roubaix, I found links to the brasserie name, but not the address you found. Hunting around some online archives, I found a reference from the Petit Journal that it started from the restaurant Gillet
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k613862k/f3.zoom (possibly the brasserie was part of it??) but that also got demolished when they master-planned La Defence.

[Exit Stage Left]

The start of Paris Roubaix seems to have been a complicated affair. A special Mass was planned for the riders to cover religious sensibilities at a chapel close to the Porte Maillot, but it was too early in the morning. They signed on at the Brasserie L'Esperance, which stayed open all night, the start was at 5.30 am at the Cafe Gillet at the Bois de Boulogne.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=u1wxD-ngqUcC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=Paris+Roubaix+Brasserie+L%27Esperance&source=bl&ots=7g51w2QjzD&sig=VwQ1Bkcow_V2Pi-zXP9lJDFnIaI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=59iNU--JE4XGOZnagaAC&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Paris%20Roubaix%20Brasserie%20L'Esperance&f=false

We had a tour of sites which we thought might be significant in 2011, before we knew the  Petit Journal story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKvmeb5XVvU