Then, as time rolled on, people gradually grew accustomed to this barren spot; they would sit on the grass at the edges, walk about, or gather in groups.

When the grass had been worn away and the trodden soil had become grey and hard, the old cemetery resembled a badly-levelled public square.

As if the more effectually to efface the memory of all objectionable associations, the inhabitants slowly changed the very appellation of the place, retaining but the name of the saint, which was likewise applied to the blind alley dipping down at one corner of the field.

Thus there was the Aire Saint-Mittre and the Impasse Saint-Mittre.
All this dates, however, from some considerable time back.

For more than thirty years now the Aire Saint-Mittre has presented a different appearance.