Author Archives: Parisian Fields

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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.

The man who pawned a guillotine

If you walk up the rue de la Roquette in the direction of Pere Lachaise cemetery, you will notice a pleasant park on your left, with a rustic-looking entrance. On the gate is a memorial tablet honouring 4,000 women Resistance … Continue reading

Posted in Paris history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Papering Paris

December. Montmartre. Mid-morning. Falling snow melting on empty tables and chairs. Artists hastily covering their paintings with plastic sheets. And on the ground, delicate white deer tracks running across the cobblestones. Suddenly I was staring at a deer that stared … Continue reading

Posted in Paris street art, Paris streets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A mutable feast

Last week, we were considering Paris in the 19th century, and how much has changed since then. But Paris is not just a moveable feast, it’s a mutable feast, and it has changed even since the 20th century. Think of … Continue reading

Posted in Paris history, Paris nostalgia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A la recherche de Paris perdu

I am no great fan of GPS or satnav systems. They convey a false sense of certainty about one’s location (What do you mean this is Montparnasse? It says Montmartre right here!) and are subject to garbage-in-garbage-out problems (if you … Continue reading

Posted in Paris history, Paris maps | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The red balloon

I’d nearly gone right past before I realized what I’d just seen. A balloon, drifting past the chairs and tables of a café in Montmartre. A red balloon. In Paris. I turned around and photographed it, murmuring to a bemused … Continue reading

Posted in Paris film | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

A tomato grows in Bercy

On a tiny side street in the 3rd arrondissement near the market known as Les Enfants Rouges (named for a former orphanage where the children wore red jackets), we stumbled across a tiny garden, divided into even tinier plots, filled … Continue reading

Posted in Paris food, Paris gardens | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The sounds of Paris

Blogs about the sights of Paris abound, and people write in swooning terms about the tastes of its food, but what about its sounds? How to convey the sounds of a city that is noisy, but is somehow less noisy … Continue reading

Posted in Paris music | Tagged , , | 5 Comments