Author Archives: Parisian Fields

About Parisian Fields

Parisian Fields is the blog of two Toronto writers who love Paris. When we can't be there, we can write about it. We're interested in everything from its history and architecture to its graffiti and street furniture. We welcome comments, suggestions, corrections, and musings from all readers.

Entresol

Posted on October 4, 2020

Thinking about the chambres de bonne last month reminded me of another distinctive space found in many older Paris buildings – the entresol. It, too, provided a space where servants might sleep, unless it was being used for storage or … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture | Tagged André Kertesz, Being John Malkovich, Bœuf à la Mode, Charles Joseph Antoine Lansiaux, Club de l’Entresol, Colette, entresol, Eugene Atget, John Cusack, Jules-Hardouin Mansart, Opéra Garnier, Palais Royal, Passage Choiseul, Place Dauphine, Place des Victoires, rue de la Harpe, Rue de la Paix, rue des Petits Champs | 14 Comments

Chambre de bonne

Posted on September 6, 2020

When I was a student in Paris, I lived in a chambre de bonne (maid’s room) at the top of a building on the corner of the rue du Ranelagh and the rue Raynouard in the 16th arrondissement. My room … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture | Tagged Bertall, chambre de bonne, chambre de service, double circulation, Edmond Texier, Jean-Maurice Lesage, L’Electricité dans la maison, Le Tableau de Paris, Louis Poyet, Lucie-Aline-Marie Lucet, Paris Roman d'une Ville, rue du Ranelagh, rue Raynouard, studette | 19 Comments

Rooftops

Posted on August 9, 2020

One of our favourite TV programs, Dix Pour Cent/Call My Agent,* opens with the following image, taken either from the roof of the Louvre or from a drone. It is never on screen for more than a few seconds, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris hospitals, Paris shops, Paris streets | Tagged Alexis-Hubert Jaillot, Call My Agent, Couvent des Feuillants, Dix Pour Cent, DTACC, Grands Magasins du Louvre, Hall des Tapis, Le Bon Coin, Maje, Matthaüs Merian, Oratoire du Louvre, Renaissance Paris République, rue de Marengo, rue de Rivoli, rue St-Honoré, Val de Grace | 30 Comments

A view of the pandemic (so far) in five masks

Posted on July 12, 2020

To readers: please be advised that this blog contains no Paris content whatsoever. We will return to our regularly scheduled comments on Paris next month. Mid-March: homemade. The lockdown catches us by surprise. On Monday we are in the library, … Continue reading →

Posted in Toronto | Tagged Covid-19, masks, Matthew Larkin, pandemic, pandemic pesto, Toronto | 23 Comments

Far from the Madding Crowd

Posted on June 14, 2020

Recently, the Financial Times posed the question: “Is now the right time to escape to the country?” The article contrasted “packed, polluted and pandemic-ridden cities” with the “space, greenery and lower prices” of the countryside. Now that people can leave … Continue reading →

Posted in Burgundy | Tagged Avallon, compagnonnage, Financial times, Hundred Years War, Patrice Roy, Raffl et Cie, Rudyard Kipling | 5 Comments

Places of healing

Posted on May 17, 2020

As businesses and institutions in France begin to open up, cautiously, I find myself trying to imagine life in the city right now. Those thoughts start with the quartier we know best – the Observatoire. It’s a neighbourhood that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris history, Paris hospitals | Tagged American Hospital in Neuilly, Cochin Hospital, Hôpital Laënnec, Hôpital Lariboisière, Hôpital St-Louis, Hôpital St-Vincent-de-Paul, Hôtel-Dieu, Hertford British Hospital, Jean-Martin Charcot, La Pitié–Salpetrière, Necker children's hospital, Port Royal maternity hospital, Sigmund Freud, Stanley Loomis, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue hospital, Val de Grace | 5 Comments

Empty Streets

Posted on April 19, 2020

Birdsong. That’s what I hear these days when I wake up. Not the sounds of neighbours going to work or getting the kids ready for school. But the sound of robins and sparrows and starlings. I hope our friends in … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris streets | Tagged A. Cayeux, Charles Marville, dégagement, Edouard-Denis Baldus, Eugene Atget, F. Nobécourt, Jean-Jacques Berger, Louis Daguerre, Patrice Roy, Sabrina Lynn Hughes, Société Héliographique, Tour St. Jacques | 8 Comments

A pebble for Clare

Posted on March 22, 2020

The news comes in, day by day. Cancelled. Closed. Postponed. One by one, I delete events from my calendar. Well, I think, look at all the time I have to write the next blog. Funny how when you have all … Continue reading →

Posted in World War I | Tagged Clare Gass, Dalhousie University, Dave Dykes, Edgehill School, Elsie Pirie, Esquelbecq, Flowers of the Forest, James Amess, John Derrick, John Lonsdale Sieber, Montreal General Hospital, Perth Academy, Shubenacadie, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue hospital | 3 Comments

Petite Ceinture: Ring around the city

Posted on February 23, 2020

About 10 years ago, Norman and I were staying in part of a converted workshop in a courtyard in the 14th arrondissement. One day, as we walked towards the Porte de Vanves on a Saturday morning to visit the flea market, … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history, Paris maps, Paris travel | Tagged 1867 Exposition, Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare de l’Est, Gare du Nord, Garigliano bridge, Grande Ceinture, Menilmontant, Montrouge station, Ornano station, Passy station, Patrice Rambaud, Petite Ceinture, Point du Jour, Recyclerie, Thiers enceinte | 9 Comments

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Reconsider.

Posted on January 26, 2020

Wherever we go in Paris, we see signs exhorting us to respect the environment, on garbage containers or in shops. The sign in the photograph below (look carefully) says, “L’environnement au coeur de nos priorités” (the environment is at the … Continue reading →