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Author Archives: Parisian Fields
The ugliest building in Paris
In the last blog, I mentioned Gabriel Davioud, who is credited with designing some of the classic street furniture of Paris. I wanted to know more about him. That proved to be a challenge. The ordinarily helpful Gallica offered 25 … Continue reading
Posted in Paris architecture, Paris expositions, Paris history
Tagged Aquarium du Trocadéro, Charles Blanc, Charles Percier, Charles-Marie Widor, Exposition Universelle de 1878, Gabriel Davioud, Jacques Carlu, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Jules Bourdais, Jules Simon, Marcel Proust, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon II, Palais de Chaillot, Palais du Roi de Rome, Pierre Fontaine, Trocadéro
10 Comments
Are you sitting down?
A few years ago, I bought a folding shopping bag from Monoprix, which I have used regularly ever since. The pattern on it is intended to represent Paris: the Eiffel Tower, the French flag, a person with shopping parcels, a … Continue reading
Stepping back into the river
Hello again. Rebonjour. Our sabbatical from blogging lasted a year. We are uncertain about how and how often we will continue, but we did want to say hello to our readers (if you are still there) and post an update. … Continue reading
Posted in History of the blind, Paris civic functions, Paris streets, Paris travel
Tagged bus routes, Fondation Custodia, gilets jaunes, May Day, RATP
18 Comments
A web of friends and a ceremony in a former corset factory
For many, Paris is the City of Light, grand museums, or extravagant shopping forays. For us, it is the City of Surprises, and now, a city of friends. Several years ago, when we started research on the history of communications … Continue reading
Les petits bleus
Elderly guidebooks let you visit Paris in the past. We have three. Two date from 1927 – Muirhead’s Paris and its Environs (Blue Guides), and the Express Guide to Paris and Environs (Publications Anglo-Américaines) – and one from 1950: Nagel’s … Continue reading
The postcard collector
To her employers and patients, she was known as Nurse Pirie. But to Norman, she was simply Grandma Stevens. She lived with Grandpa Stevens in a house that his Grandpa had built, near enough to Norman’s family home in Hamilton, … Continue reading
A question of time
What do you remember most vividly about your first visit to Paris? For me, more than 20 years ago, it was the astounding range of merchandise in shops and galleries, the parks, and the cleanliness of the city. For a … Continue reading
Posted in Paris civic functions, Paris history, Paris hotels, Paris streets
Tagged Carl Albert Mayrhofer, Charles-Augustin Meurice, Compagnie Générale des Horloges Pneumatiques, Ernest Resch, Flood of 1910, Hotel Meurice, Jules Albert Berly, Paris Flood 1910, pneumatic clocks, rue Ste-Anne, Scientific American, Victor Popp
13 Comments
Nostalgic images of a vanishing city
Photographs of Paris in the snow were big news earlier this month. We are Canadians. As Gilles Vigneault sang of this country, “Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver” (My country is not a country, it is winter). … Continue reading
Posted in Paris art, Paris nostalgia, Paris popular culture, Paris streets
Tagged commissionnaire, Curiosités de Paris, Edmond Morin, Franco-Prussian War, Grand Café d’Harcourt, Henri Boutet, Le Monde illustré, Neuvaine de Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, Neuvaine de Sainte Geneviève, omnibus, Serge Férat
12 Comments
Update to A City Street, A Lamppost
I finally heard back from the Roger-Viollet agency with the name of the photographer: Roger Berson. I was not able to find out much about him, but stay tuned. His name led me to the original shot, taken in August … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
18 Comments
