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Category Archives: Paris history
Cloches et clochers
On April 15 of this year, as Paris remained in lockdown, one of Notre Dame’s bells rang out to mark a year since the fire that largely destroyed the cathedral’s interior. The bell’s name was Emmanuel, and a grainy still … Continue reading
Posted in Paris churches, Paris history, Paris music
Tagged angelus, Bells, Belltowers, Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis, Glockenfriedhof, Louis Vierne, Napoleon Bonaparte, Notre Dame Cathedral, Notre-Dame-de-Jouy, Regis Singer, Sacre Coeur, Saint-Severin, Sainte-Odile, Savoyarde, Second World War, St-Germain-l’Auxerrois, St-Merri, St-Philippe-du-Roule, St-Yves, Stephen J. Thorne
9 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
33 Comments
Places of healing
As businesses and institutions in France begin to open up, cautiously, I find myself trying to imagine life in the city right now. Those thoughts start with the quartier we know best – the Observatoire. It’s a neighbourhood that I … Continue reading
Posted in Paris history, Paris hospitals
Tagged American Hospital in Neuilly, Cochin Hospital, Hôpital Laënnec, Hôpital Lariboisière, Hôpital St-Louis, Hôpital St-Vincent-de-Paul, Hôtel-Dieu, Hertford British Hospital, Jean-Martin Charcot, La Pitié–Salpetrière, Necker children's hospital, Port Royal maternity hospital, Sigmund Freud, Stanley Loomis, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue hospital, Val de Grace
5 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
Petite Ceinture: Ring around the city
About 10 years ago, Norman and I were staying in part of a converted workshop in a courtyard in the 14th arrondissement. One day, as we walked towards the Porte de Vanves on a Saturday morning to visit the flea market, … Continue reading
Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history, Paris maps, Paris travel
Tagged 1867 Exposition, Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare de l’Est, Gare du Nord, Garigliano bridge, Grande Ceinture, Menilmontant, Montrouge station, Ornano station, Passy station, Patrice Rambaud, Petite Ceinture, Point du Jour, Recyclerie, Thiers enceinte
9 Comments
Early one morning
We do not, as a rule, take early-morning walks in Paris. If we do not have a morning appointment, we tend to dawdle over breakfast, reading and chatting and enjoying the view from the windows. Quick showers are not an … Continue reading
Posted in Paris gardens, Paris history, Paris hospitals, Paris parks, Paris quartiers, Paris streets
Tagged aqueduc Medicis, Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Charles-Auguste Questel, empêche-pipi, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Hôpital Rochefoucauld, Lycée Notre Dame de France, Maison Santé des Soeurs Augustines, Monastère de la Visitation, Plancher de Jeannot
9 Comments
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
