-
Most viewed posts & pages
What our readers think
Sandi Gargano on The writing on the wall Jan Whitaker on The writing on the wall Isabelle Cochelin on The writing on the wall ROY on The writing on the wall C-Marie on The writing on the wall Most liked posts & pages
Category Archives: Paris civic functions
The Zone
Our visits to Paris always begin and end with a trip through the outskirts of Paris. The train or taxi from the airport travels through residential and industrial suburbs, passing warehouses, high-rise hotels, office buildings, and large sports facilities. Beside … Continue reading
Posted in Paris automotive, Paris civic functions, Paris history, Paris hospitals
Tagged Adolph Thiers, bibliothèque historique de la ville de paris, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Donald Pittenger, Enceinte de Thiers, Eugène Poubelle, Eugene Atget, flea markets, fortifications, Franco-Prussian War, habitations à bon marché, HBM, Laurent Baziller, Paris Commune, Paris wall, Périphérique, Porte de Reuilly, portes de Paris, Saint-Mandé, zone non aedificandi, Zoniers
10 Comments
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Reconsider.
Wherever we go in Paris, we see signs exhorting us to respect the environment, on garbage containers or in shops. The sign in the photograph below (look carefully) says, “L’environnement au coeur de nos priorités” (the environment is at the … 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
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
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
A city street, a lamppost
It was the photograph that caught my eye from a high shelf in a bookshop. A street with a lamppost and the corner of a building; two men walking in opposite directions. It was only later that I registered the … Continue reading
Posted in Paris books, Paris civic functions, Paris postcards, Paris streets
Tagged du Gaz et de l’Eclairage, Dufayel, Frédérique Bousquel, Jacques Lusseyran, Jo Baker, Joseph Epstein, Journées du Patrimoine, Marcel Epstein, Mémoire de l’Electricité, Mémoire des rues, MEGE, Ronald C. Rosbottom, rue de Clignancourt, rue Ramey, Second World War
21 Comments
A walk in the snow led us to Paris
Our first trip to Paris together was only about 20 years ago, but already it seems to belong to the distant past. It all began with a walk in the snow. We are Canadians of a certain age, so the … Continue reading
Borders, boundaries, and snails
Toronto has recently completed a Ward Boundary Review, its first since, oh, 2000. City councillors were concerned that some wards had far more voters than others. Population was growing downtown and declining in the inner suburbs. After 17 years, Something … Continue reading
The art of the gasometer
The major summer exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario is devoted to the work of Canadian artist Lawren Harris (1885–1970). I associate his name with bold, abstracted images of Canada’s Far North – mountains and glaciers and frozen seas. … Continue reading
Posted in Paris civic functions, Paris history
Tagged Alfortville, Belleville, Boulogne, Clichy, Compagnie parisienne de l’éclairage et de chauffage par le gaz, Courcelles, gasometer, gazomètre, Grenelle, Ivry, Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, La Presse, La Villette, Maisons Alfort, Passy, Paul Signac, rapeseed oil, Robert Doisneau, rue de l’Evangile, St-Denis, St-Mandé, Ternes, Vaugirard, Vincent van Gogh
22 Comments
Parisian Fields 