Category Archives: Paris history

Notre Dame du Travail: more than meets the eye

If I had to pick only one place to visit on a trip to Paris, it would be Notre Dame du Travail. What makes it so special? It starts with the eye, but there is more than meets the eye. … Continue reading

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A tricycle built for work

Head down and shoulders hunched, the lead cyclist pedals furiously through the streets of Paris. He is barely a cycle’s length ahead of his closest pursuers. Anxious onlookers line the streets. We are not witnessing the final moments of the … Continue reading

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The queen in the tower

Last week, Norman posted his picture of a “melting bicycle” and it got me thinking about the place and time we saw it. Then a reader wrote in and asked about places to stop and sit in the Marais, and … Continue reading

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Finding the world in Paris postcards

Last week we showed a picture of a bridge, which was on my list of must-sees in Paris. And I wondered how many of those who flock to the Eiffel Tower also visit the 1867 suspension bridge over the artificial … Continue reading

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Finding Paris in old postcards

“Pssst. Dirty postcards, monsieur?” Is that your image of Paris postcards? Les cartes coquines (naughty or saucy postcards) are still for sale if you know where to look, but there is much more to old Paris postcards. Many of them … Continue reading

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Hiding in plain sight

When we rented an apartment near the Val-de-Grâce, the lady who owned the flat told us that the church and buildings there were very beautiful, but the only way to see inside was to go for mass on Sunday morning. … Continue reading

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Life in a quiet Paris quartier

We are back in Canada, but still enjoying our memories of Paris. We stayed in a comfortable apartment in an area of the city we had never before explored, not far from the intersection of the Boulevard Port-Royal and the … Continue reading

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Keeping warm in a wintry Paris

Last week snow was falling, snow on snow, in Paris. The international press (when it hits the Toronto papers you know it is Major News) even reported that the Eiffel Tower was temporarily closed because of it. Unimaginable! Well, actually, … Continue reading

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Memento mori

The past is ever-present in Paris, and so are the dead. I don’t know of another city in which so many of the top tourist sites are in some way memorials to those who have gone before. There is the … Continue reading

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Englishwomen abroad

I recently came across two oddly similar stories about Englishwomen in Paris. Both women came to the city to work, both became pregnant with men they met in Paris, both had baby girls while living with these men. But the … Continue reading

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