Do you know which is the longest street in Valenciennes? The answer is Rue de Paris. It begins near Place d'Armes and continues to Place Saint-Nicolas, where you can find the library and the Protestant church. At this point, the street makes a sharp 90-degree turn to end at Place du Neuf Bourg, the former site of the Porte de Paris – thus named because it was the first city gate travellers encountered when coming from the direction of the capital. Unfortunately, nothing remains today of the structure; it was destroyed when the city's ramparts were dismantled over a two-year period starting on 1 February 1891. Here's a bit more history: People at that time also called it the 'Porte Pissote', or the Pissing Gate. It doesn't take too much imagination to guess the origin of that name!
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