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Author Archives: Parisian Fields
Coming to terms with the heat in Paris
We weren’t expecting Paris to be sizzling in early June. We’d emerged from a cold, wet Toronto spring, armed with suitcases full of cardigans and long-sleeved shirts, only to plunge into high summer. Isn’t Paris supposed to be intolerably hot … Continue reading
Borders, boundaries, and snails
Toronto has recently completed a Ward Boundary Review, its first since, oh, 2000. City councillors were concerned that some wards had far more voters than others. Population was growing downtown and declining in the inner suburbs. After 17 years, Something … Continue reading
Footsteps and Sidetracks
I sometimes think that if I had it all to do over again, I would become a biographer. I’ve no interest in writing fiction when real life is so fascinating. Even in my day-job as a researcher, I love tracking … Continue reading
Posted in Paris art, Paris history, Paris streets
Tagged André Lurçat, Boulogne-Billancourt, Fernand Léger, Gabriel Loire, Georgia O’Keeffe, Henri Matisse, Lucie Brownlee, Mary Callery, Pable Picasso, place du Marché St-Honoré, Quai de Voltaire, Richard Holmes, rue du Belvédère, St. George's Church, Villa d’Alésia
14 Comments
Get the “L” out of here
A recent Frantastique lesson contained a short animated cartoon called “Mort à l’Académie” (Death at the Academy). It opens with an ominous view of the venerable Académie Française, complete with thunder crackling overhead. A bald man at a desk in … Continue reading
Posted in French language
Tagged Académie Française, Cardinal Richelieu, Championnats d'orthographe, circumflex, dépanneur, Fondation Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Frantastique, girolle, Gymglish, Larousse Dictionary, Maurice Druon, Michel Fugain, Michel Rocard, Office de la Langue française, spelling reform
5 Comments
Paris Elevators: A Tiny Story
I am sure many of our readers have stayed in those small hotels that are so typical of Paris. Over the years they have been reconfigured to add modern conveniences that were not in the original design. We remember one … Continue reading
Posted in Paris architecture, Paris film, Paris hotels
Tagged elevators, hotels, Josiane Balasko, Le Père Noël est une ordure, lifts
9 Comments
Life on the rue du Ranelagh
By the time you read this, we will have returned from Paris, where we spent Christmas. Friends had graciously given us the use of an apartment on the boulevard Suchet in the 16th arrondissement. “Ah, le seizième ! C’est un … Continue reading
