-
-
Most viewed posts & pages
-
Recent Posts
- A convent education
- Astérix and the lost streets of Montparnasse
- The boating party
- Up Stairs. Down Stairs.
- Beer and sandwiches from the Brasserie Dauphine
- A museum of images in a garden of peace
- Napoleon slept here
- Lorette
- Edward Hopper in Paris
- Paris Camino, part two
- Paris Camino
- Reviving the charms of the concert-promenade
- Passage St-Pierre
- Saving Mary
- Madame Mozart dies in Paris
- The writing on the wall, part two
- The writing on the wall
- Rondo Parisien
- A Penny for a Dancer’s Son
- Red children and foundling wheels
- The strange case of the disappearing hotel
- Asylum
- A taste of France
- How blind people learned to write: the truth can be told
- Islands
What our readers think
ejanehunter on A convent education Isabelle Cochelin on A convent education Parisian Fields on A convent education ejanehunter on A convent education Trish on A convent education Blogroll
- Armchair Parisian
- Bonjour Paris
- Buttes Chaumont blog
- Days on the Claise
- Decoding Paris
- French Girl in Seattle
- French Today
- Girls' Guide to Paris
- Invisible Paris
- One quality, the finest
- Paris (Im)perfect
- ParisPerdu
- Part-time Parisian
- Restauranting Through History
- Rue Rude
- Sound Landscapes Paris
- Spotted by Locals
- Taste of France
- The Paris Blog
Tags
- Champs Elysees
- Charles Marville
- Eugene Atget
- French Revolution
- Georges-Eugène Haussmann
- Gustave Eiffel
- Gustave Rives
- Jardin du Luxembourg
- Les Grands Magasins Dufayel
- les Halles
- Louis XIV
- Montmartre
- Montparnasse
- Napoleon
- Napoleon Bonaparte
- Napoleon III
- Parc des Buttes Chaumont
- Parc Monceau
- Paris flood
- Paris postcards
- Petite Ceinture
- postcards
- Stanley Loomis
- Turgot map
- Val de Grace
Categories
Most liked posts & pages
Archives
Category Archives: Paris architecture
The writing on the wall, part two
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
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
Rooftops
One of our favourite TV programs, Dix Pour Cent/Call My Agent,* opens with the following image, taken either from the roof of the Louvre or from a drone. It is never on screen for more than a few seconds, and … Continue reading
Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris hospitals, Paris shops, Paris streets
Tagged Alexis-Hubert Jaillot, Call My Agent, Couvent des Feuillants, Dix Pour Cent, DTACC, Grands Magasins du Louvre, Hall des Tapis, Le Bon Coin, Maje, Matthaüs Merian, Oratoire du Louvre, Renaissance Paris République, rue de Marengo, rue de Rivoli, rue St-Honoré, Val de Grace
42 Comments
Empty streets
Birdsong. That’s what I hear these days when I wake up. Not the sounds of neighbours going to work or getting the kids ready for school. But the sound of robins and sparrows and starlings. I hope our friends in … Continue reading
Art Nouveau and Aerodynamics in Auteuil
The southern reaches of the 16th arrondissement might be considered the Wild West of Paris. Auteuil was largely countryside when Haussmann was at work on central Paris, and his ideas about tidy facades that lined up neatly never stood much … Continue reading
Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris quartiers
Tagged Auteuil, Charles Deron-dit-Levent, Gaston Danois, Gustave Eiffel, Hector Guimard, Hotel Danois, Hotel Deron-Levent, Joachim Richard, Laboratoire Aerodynamique Eiffle, Le Tunnel Brasserie, Louis Victor Jassedé, Soufflerie Eiffel
4 Comments
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
11 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
Gustave Eiffel did not sleep here
On a recent visit to Laywine’s, our favourite pen and stationery store in Toronto, Philippa picked up a desk pad made by the French paper firm Exacompta, and found the following note on the front: Made in the heart of … Continue reading
Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, World War I
Tagged Clairefontaine, Compagnie Parisienne d’air comprimé, Compagnie Parisienne de Distribution d’Électricité, Denis Cosnard, Exacompta, G. Lalo, Labor, Mignon, Paul Friésé, Quai de Jemmapes, Rhodia, Saderne, Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques
9 Comments
Parisian Fields 