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.

Lorette

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Parisian Fields

“What is the significance of the name Loretto?” asked Norman, looking at a picture of the former Loretto Academy in Niagara Falls. “It reminds me of that church in Paris.” Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in Paris is an imposing Neoclassical edifice in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris churches, Paris history, Paris quartiers | Tagged courtesans, filles publiques, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, grandes horizontales, grisettes, La Nouvelle Athènes, Lorette, maisons closes, Maurice Alhoy, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paul Gavarni, prostitutes, rue Bréda, rue Henry Monnier | 8 Comments

Edward Hopper in Paris

Posted on August 28, 2022 by Parisian Fields

Norman and I were browsing in a second-hand bookshop recently, when I came across a book about the American artist Edward Hopper that included this illustration: The caption read, “Stairway at 48, rue de Lille, Paris, 1906.” I shouldn’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris art, Paris streets | Tagged 48 rue de Lille, Alta Hilsdale, Edward Hopper, Elizabeth Thompson Colleary, Enid Saies, Eugene Atget, Evangelical Baptist Church in Paris, Gail Levin, Lavoirs, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf, Pont Royal, Richard R. Brettell, Rue Domat | 17 Comments

Paris Camino, part two

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Parisian Fields

Here we are at the intersection of the rue St-Jacques and the boulevard Port-Royal (aka Carrefour de la Mort – our name for it; you won’t see it on the walls!), heading south. Once you have crossed the tricky intersection, … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris civic functions, Paris hospitals, Paris streets | Tagged Ecole Normale Supérieur, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Hopital Cochin, Hotel de Massa, Jacques Hillairet, Port Royal maternity hospital, Porte d’Orléans, Protestant Institute of Theology Paris, Reservoir Montsouris, rue de la Tombe-d’Issoire, Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, Société de Gens de Lettres | 6 Comments

Paris Camino

Posted on July 3, 2022 by Parisian Fields

Paris is a city for walking – for tourists, for flâneurs, and also for pilgrims. For some, it is the conclusion of a pilgrimage. On the rue du Bac, you will see pilgrims from many countries entering the courtyard of … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Barbier, Paris churches, Paris history, Paris hospitals, Paris streets | Tagged Abbé de l’Epée, anchoresses, anchorites, Camino de Santiago, Caroline Armington, Collège de France, Institut National des Jeunes Sourds, Librairie des Editeurs Indépendants, Lycée Louis Le Grand, Maison de l’Océan, Panthéon, Pippa, recluses, reclusoirs, rue du Petit Pont, rue Gay-Lussac, rue St-Jacques, Schola Cantorum, St-Jacques des Haut Pas, St-Severin, Tour St-Jacques, Val de Grace, Vespasienne, Via Superior, Via Turonensis | 18 Comments

Reviving the charms of the concert-promenade

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Parisian Fields

If you are in Paris today, May 29, you might want to wander in the Jardin de Ranelagh between four and five in the afternoon, where you will be serenaded by a baroque ensemble in the kiosque à musique. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris music, Paris parks | Tagged Adolphe Alphand, Champs-Elysees, Concerts-promenades, Fête de la Musique, Jardin de Ranelagh, Kiosque a musique, Mary Ann Warrick, Productions chez Nous, Raoul Dufy, Square Maurice Kriegel Valrimont | 4 Comments

Passage St-Pierre

Posted on May 1, 2022 by Parisian Fields

We found this 1913 etching of the Passage St-Pierre by Caroline Armington in the Earls Court Gallery in Hamilton, Ontario, on St. Patrick’s Day in March. If you look up “Passage St-Pierre” in the index of a modern map of … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris art, Paris churches, Paris streets | Tagged Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Académie Julian, Caroline Armington, Eugene Atget, Frank Armington, Geb's, Jacques Hillairet, Passage St-Pierre, rue de l’Hôtel St-Paul, rue Neuve St-Pierre, St-Paul-des-Champs | 21 Comments

Saving Mary

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Parisian Fields

Amid the oceans of heart-breaking news that surrounded us in March 2022, there was some good news from a French village called, appropriately, Island, in the department of the Yonne in Burgundy–Franche-Comté. About 180 people live in the village, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Burgundy | Tagged Allianz, Anne of Austria, Assumption of Mary, Avallon, Charles Trinquart d’Etampes, Island, La Voilotte, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Musee de Baron Martin, Noëlle Roy, Patrice Roy, Paule Buffy, Plancher de Jeannot, Sauvegarde de l’Art Français, St-Bénigne, St-Firmin, Val de Grace, Vézelay, Vivre Island | 10 Comments

Madame Mozart dies in Paris

Posted on February 27, 2022 by Parisian Fields

When, a few weeks ago, a broadcaster mentioned that Mozart’s mother had died in Paris in 1778, my first thought was: I don’t even know her name! I knew about Wolfgang Amadeus, his hard-driving father Leopold, his gifted sister Nannerl, … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris music | Tagged Anna Maria Mozart, Empress Maria Theresa, Hôtel de Beauvais, Leopold Mozart, Nannerl Mozart, rue Bourg l’Abbé, rue du Sentier, St-Eustache, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 12 Comments

The writing on the wall, part two

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Parisian Fields

After posting the last blog, I had a nagging feeling that there was a question I had not answered and a connection I had not made. I found the question by looking at the images again. It was that date: … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris film, Paris shops, Paris streets | Tagged Affichage National, Albert Guillaume, colonnes dufayel, Emile Zola, Eugene Atget, Freedom of the press, Georges Dufayel, Georges Méliès, Gustave Rives, Jacques François Crespin, Leonetto Cappiello, Loi du 29 juillet 1881, Palais de la Nouveauté | 16 Comments

The writing on the wall

Posted on January 2, 2022 by Parisian Fields

I once bought a book called How to Read Paris, which was really just a book about the city’s architecture. If I were to write a book with that title, I would talk about the words on the city’s walls. … Continue reading →