Harry Potter's Crossroads is... in the middle of Paris

The hoax began more than a year ago, when a new road sign mysteriously appeared in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. In the middle of the terrace of the Café Parisien, which overlooks the Place Rhin-et-Danube, above other signs that then indicated the post office, the park or the nearest cemetery, a new sign pointed to the "Chemin de traverse".

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Well-known to Harry Potter fans, this path is a secret route in the saga, reserved for wizards wishing to shop in the back streets of London. If the "Chemin de traverse" is to be found in Paris in 2020, it is thanks to the intervention of a street art collective according to some, and film students according to others. Indeed, the sign added to the top of the road sign is made of cardboard, installed there during the March 2020 lockdown without anyone really noticing it. But the deception was recently discovered.

The zeal of a Paris city official

At the start of the 2021 school year, according to Le Figaro, the owner of the Parisian café "sent a request to the Paris City Hall so that [the] sign could be moved and no longer clutter his terrace" . In October, city officials came to the café to comply with his request. One of them noticed that the "Chemin de traverse" sign, which looked like an official sign, had been severely damaged by the rain. As the City of Paris explained to the website ActuPariswebsite, the agent thought "it was a sign indicating a tourist walk, so he took the initiative to report the damaged sign and have it changed".

On 26 October, a customer at the Café Parisien saw the brand new sign being installed, moved a few metres to be outside the brasserie's terrace. Probably a Harry Potter fan, he spotted the surprising "Chemin de traverse" sign, filmed the scene, and posted it on TikTok.

Human error or witchcraft?

Since the beginning of the week, there has been a Chemin de traverse in Paris, as the sign points to a real pedestrian street. It is the rue Francis Ponge, which leads to the Jardin Hérold.

Paris City Hall told the ActuParis website that it was a "mistake by an agent who did his job well" , but it is not known whether the error will be corrected. It was indeed communicated that the sign "could be kept" . While some people are happy about this, as it could attract some tourists to the area, not everyone is happy about the joke. According to Le Figaro, the #saccageparis has skyrocketed on social networks and the city's agents have received a number of insults and hateful comments.