Despite its name, the square has had a tumultuous history ' home to a busy guillotine in the Revolution and the site of the Germans' last foot­hold in Paris in 1944 ' and handles some aggressive traffic today.
The square was once the site of both public executions and the Germans' last stand in Paris in 1994.
Hot and cold wind blew on them, whipping their cloaks sharply one way, and then the other.