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Author Archives: Parisian Fields
Islands
The boulevard Morland is a tree-lined, one-way thoroughfare in the fourth arrondissement. Nothing indicates that the buildings between it and the river occupy what was once an island, or that the street sits atop what was once an arm of … Continue reading
Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history, Paris maps, Seine
Tagged Boulevard Morland, Charles de Louviers, Elaine Sciolino, Ile aux Cygnes, Ile aux Juifs, Ile aux Templiers, Ile à la Gourdaine, Ile Boute-clou, Ile des Cygnes, Ile Louviers, Ile Maquerelle, Ile Merdeuse, Ile Notre Dame, Ile St-Louis, Jacques Antoine Dulaure, Jacques Hillairet, Moulin de la Monnaie, Pavilion de l'Arsenal, Pierre-Antoine Demachy, Turgot map
9 Comments
My mother’s adventure in Paris
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Rosemary Felicity Campsie, née Orchardson, July 24, 1924 – April 5, 2021. She was a cheerful traveller with great curiosity about the world. I remember a story my mother told … Continue reading
Posted in Family history
Tagged Dora Orchardson, Queen Juliana, Rosemary Campsie, SS Queen Mary
24 Comments
Finding Café Momus
A few weeks ago, we received the following comment from Martin Nelson in England on our blog about Rooftops: I am a singer, and lived briefly during 1982 in the Palais Royal district, Rue Molière… I had an old 1950 guide … Continue reading
Posted in Paris history, Paris hotels, Paris streets
Tagged A.H. Brodrick, Alfred Delvau, Annuaire-Almanach du commerce, Café l’Auxerrois, Café Momus, Charles Marville, Henri Lévis, Henry Murger, Journal des Débats, La Bohème, La Samaritaine, La Vie de Bohème, Le Relais du Louvre, Rue des Prêtres St Germain l’Auxerrois, The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter, Thomas Boys
21 Comments
The Zone
Our visits to Paris always begin and end with a trip through the outskirts of Paris. The train or taxi from the airport travels through residential and industrial suburbs, passing warehouses, high-rise hotels, office buildings, and large sports facilities. Beside … Continue reading
Posted in Paris automotive, Paris civic functions, Paris history, Paris hospitals
Tagged Adolph Thiers, bibliothèque historique de la ville de paris, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Donald Pittenger, Enceinte de Thiers, Eugène Poubelle, Eugene Atget, flea markets, fortifications, Franco-Prussian War, habitations à bon marché, HBM, Laurent Baziller, Paris Commune, Paris wall, Périphérique, Porte de Reuilly, portes de Paris, Saint-Mandé, zone non aedificandi, Zoniers
10 Comments
Twenty questions
A happy Saint-Sylvestre to you all! A few of you may wonder what that means, but in France, New Year’s Eve is often called by the name of the saint whose day falls on December 31. That fact got us … Continue reading
Posted in Paris churches, Paris history, Paris popular culture, Paris postcards, Paris streets
Tagged Arc de Triomphe, Arc du Triomphe du Carrousel, avenue Foch, Café Varenne, C’était un rendez-vous, Centre Pompidou, chasse-roue, Chevaux de Marly, Claude Chappe, Claude Lelouch, Deyrolle, Dufayel, fiacre, La Samaritaine, Le Grand Mogol, Marie Antoinette, Marie Curie, Mel Bonis, metonymy, Notre Dame du Travail, Oscar Wilde, Place Beauvau, Point du Jour, Porte St-Denis, Porte St-Martin, Quai d’Orsay, Rose Bertin, rue de Varenne, rue Xaintrailles, rue Xavier-Privas, Saint-Sylvestre, Sophie Berthelot, St-Fiacre
14 Comments
Cloches et clochers
On April 15 of this year, as Paris remained in lockdown, one of Notre Dame’s bells rang out to mark a year since the fire that largely destroyed the cathedral’s interior. The bell’s name was Emmanuel, and a grainy still … Continue reading
Posted in Paris churches, Paris history, Paris music
Tagged angelus, Bells, Belltowers, Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis, Glockenfriedhof, Louis Vierne, Napoleon Bonaparte, Notre Dame Cathedral, Notre-Dame-de-Jouy, Regis Singer, Sacre Coeur, Saint-Severin, Sainte-Odile, Savoyarde, Second World War, St-Germain-l’Auxerrois, St-Merri, St-Philippe-du-Roule, St-Yves, Stephen J. Thorne
9 Comments
Entresol
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
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
20 Comments
