Porte d'Orléans (Paris Métro)

Infobox Paris metro
Name=Porte d'Orléans
Subtitle=Général Leclerc
Day=October 30
Year=1909
Access=Av. Ernest Reyer × av. du Général Leclerc (three)
140, av. du Général Leclerc
134, boul. Brune
108, boul. Jourdan
117, boul. Jourdan
Rue de la Légion Étrangère × Av. Ernest Reyer
Municipality=the 14th arrondissement of Paris
Zone=1
Next=
X=119
Y=143

Porte d'Orléans (Général Leclerc) is a station of the Paris Métro, currently the southern terminus of line 4. It is situated in the 14th Arrondissement, in the "quartier" of Petit-Montrouge.

The station is named for its position at the Porte d'Orléans, the beginning of the road from Paris to Orléans (route nationale 20, or N20). Its subtitle is for the World War II general Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, known by his "nom de guerre" of Général Leclerc. On August 25, 1944, Leclerc entered Paris via the Porte d'Orléans with tanks of the 2nd armed division, on his way to liberate Paris from the German occupation.

A memorial to Leclerc is near the station, between Rue de la Légion Étrangère and Avenue de la Porte-d'Orléans. On the west side of Rue de la Légion Étrangère is Square du Serment-de-Koufra, a park commemorating a pledge made by Leclerc on March 2, 1941, the day after taking the Italian fort at Kufra, Libya: he swore that his weapons would not be laid down until the French flag flew over the cathedrals of Metz and of Strasbourg.

The station lies just on the Parisian side of the border with Montrouge, the neighbouring commune. Around 2010, Line 4 will be extended south into Montrouge, and then toward Bagneux. That should reduce bus traffic around the Porte d'Orléans.

External links

* [http://bus38.online.fr/cartepo.html Map of the Porte d'Orléans]
* [http://bus38.online.fr/arret_poeng.html History, from a site maintained by the drivers of bus route 38]
* [http://perso.orange.fr/jp2k/2db/divers_monument.htm Le Monument Porte d'Orléans (photos with text in French)]