You're now on Rue Juliette Dodu, the perfect place to tell you about the woman after whom this street is named! Juliette Dodu, born here in Saint-Denis, was the first French woman to receive the Legion of Honor for military service. She left Réunion at 16 with her family for mainland France, where she found work at a telegraph office. This was the year 1870, when the war between France and Prussia began. The telegraph office was occupied by enemy forces, and the telegraph wire ran right through Juliette's room. Somehow, she managed to rig up a system that let her intercept messages from Prussian officers and pass them along to the French! She was eventually discovered, imprisoned, and sentenced to death, but the armistice was signed just in time and she was pardoned by the Prince of Prussia. Historians today question whether her exploits happened exactly as told, so we should probably take the story with a grain of salt. Whether it’s true or not, it's still fascinating to learn about this island daughter whose name graces streets not just here, but in Paris, Montreuil, Le Havre, and of course, Saint-Denis!