The high cost of living in the past

We are fighting against the high cost of living; there is talk of reorganizing Les Halles. For centuries, the poultry market was located at the place called La Vallée, on the bank of the Seine that stretches from the Pont Neuf to the Pont Saint-Michel and where there was originally a meadow planted with willows.

In 1312, Philippe le Bel had the trees cut down and a stone quay built to stem the flooding of the river. The poultry merchants supplied by navigation set up shop on the new quay; booksellers came to open their shops near them. These two businesses have left behind some survivals there. In the eighteenth century, roasters, caterers, and pastry chefs attracted a considerable clientele and were terribly jealous of each other.

“All the game and all the poultry arrive at La Vallée,” wrote Mercier. “There are poultry officers just as there are tide officers. With their horns attached under their bellies and their quills under their wigs, they write down the slightest wimp; a young rabbit has its death certificate in good form, with the date of the day... A hare is not eaten until after the solemn exercise of the officer's duties.
You should see, on the eve of Saint Martin's Day, Kings' Day and Shrove Tuesday, all the semi-bourgeois women come in person to haggle, to buy a goose, a turkey, an old hen called a poularde... "

Poultry is only eaten cheaply when the king is at Fontainebleau. The suppliers no longer come from Paris; the big consumers are at court and the people have an easier time reaching the price of a chicken."

We see that already, at that time, the sale of edible products was very closely monitored and that their price was worthy of the attention of the common people.