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.

Scooting through Paris

What is your Paris? Beauty, colour, art, elegance, fashion, intrigue, rich and varied history? Or work? Think of the great Paris photos and novels about working people. My Paris is often mirrored or expressed in the scooters buzzing about Paris. … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris automotive, Paris popular culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The lady is not a sofa

Not far from the Bon Marché in the 7th arrondissement is a short dead-end street that terminates in a quiet space enclosed by the surrounding buildings, with trees, paths, and some flowerbeds: the Square Récamier. Récamier. When we first entered … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Stained Glass Less Seen

Paris’s many churches are treasure troves of spectacular, often monumental, stained glass windows. The cemeteries of Paris have stained glass windows too, but these are small, less visible, and easily overlooked except by those who walk slowly and peer through … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris cemeteries | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Oscar the Grouch goes to Paris

Paris is full of incongruous juxtapositions. A moment after leaving the square around the ancient Fontaine des Innocents, we were confronted with the image of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street near the Banana Café (also decorated with some unbananalike … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris popular culture, Paris street art | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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