Paris is very old -- there has been a settlement…

Paris is very old -- there has been a settlement there for at least 6,000 years and its shape has been determined in 1 by the River Seine, and in part by the edicts of France's rulers. But the great boulevards we admire today are relatively new, and were constructed to prevent any more barricades being 2 by the rebellious population; that work was carried out in the middle 19th century. The earlier Paris had been in part a maze of narrow streets and alleyways. But you can imagine that the work was not only highly expensive, but caused great distress among the half a million or so whose houses were 3 razed, and whose neighborhoods disappeared. What is done cannot usually be undone, especially when buildings are torn 4.