The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls

Sure, every tourist knows about Montmartre since the 2001 Academy Awards-nominated movie Amelie starring the irresistible Audrey Tautou and some bloke made this quaint Parisian neighborhood quite famous. Things have never been the same since - the Basilica of Sacre Couer is now on everyone's list of places to visit, and nearby Place du Tertre is constantly overrun with tourists quaffing overpriced drinks at the cafes and artists offering to draw your caricature for a hefty fee. In short, it has become a classic tourist trap.
We decided to visit Montmatre on a two hour walking tour by Paris Walks, as they promised to show not just the sights, but also the more quiet parts of the neighborhood where the artists Van Gogh and Renoir used to paint, as well as other lesser-known landmarks.


One such interesting sight is the statue of a man stuck inside a wall. The statue is based on the French writer Marcel Ayme's story, "The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls". The story tells of a chap named Dutilleul, who at age 42 discovered his ability to walk through walls. It didn't occur to Dutilleul to use this extraordinary power, until a year later when a new boss showed up at his office and instantly took a disliking to Dutilleul, insulting him at every opportunity. No longer able to bear the insults, one day Dutilleul decides to poke his head through the wall to his boss' office, at the same time declaring, "“Monsieur, you are a hoodlum, a boor, and a spoiled brat". He did this no less than twenty three times that day. After a couple of weeks of seeing this talking apparition, his boss was taken away to a sanitarium. (Slackers of the world, rejoice!).

For more on Dutilleul's exploits as a bank robber, his struggle to keep his powers a secret yet at the same time eager for recognition, his arrest and escape (duh) from prison, and his affair with a married woman that sealed his fate, here is a long, highly entertaining version of the story, about a 15 minute read. It is as riveting and enjoyable as it sounds.