Nicolas de Baye wrote in his journal in 1411: "Monday, the 22nd of February, the royal household, in order to observe the Lenten feast, will be rising before dawn [to prepare]".The staying-power of the Carnival of Paris, the elements that have made it an institution for centuries, is based on an unbroken tradition of "festive and carnival societies" (similar to the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro, the mystic societies in Mobile or the krewes of the New Orleans Mardi Gras) and the organized involvement of certain civic groups, corporations, and trade unions.

The central role of the working class is illustrated, for example, by an anonymous poem of the eighteenth century: Always at these kinds of masquerades, Workers take their special pleasures.

Tomorrow we'll return to the usual grind, When Mardi Gras is, sadly, over, Food and drink will be hard to find And we'll do our best to recover.

In 1690, in his Dictionary, Antoine Furetière wrote these words, which apply also to Paris: "CARNIVAL, masculine noun: time of rejoicing lasting from Epiphany until Lent.

"Sixty-two years later, in 1752, the Encyclopedia of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert confirmed this impression with almost the same words Furetière used.

At street level, two types of event are traditionally part of the Carnival de Paris: the walk of masks, and the processions.

Here's what Dulaure says of this phenomenon in 1787 : "Rue Saint-Antoine is famous for the prodigious contest of masks held every year on the last day of the carnival, which attracts a large number of the curious.

It set off from Place Gambetta and went via Belleville, where it met the Chinese New Year parade,[4] to République, before arriving at the Hôtel de Ville.