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Category Archives: Paris nostalgia
The ghost of Paris past
Two summers ago, I participated in a project to photograph our Toronto neighbourhood as it looked in 2024. I chose a stretch of our local commercial street and systematically photographed each shop façade. Then I went around to the laneways … Continue reading
Posted in Paris automotive, Paris nostalgia, Paris parks, Paris shops, Paris streets
Tagged Bastille train station, Belle Jardinière, Bercy, Brigitte Mouly, Cinema Cithea, Citroën, Daniel Nicolas, J.C. Clavier, Jean-Claude Ratier, Les Halles de Bercy, Louis Emou, Michel Dornet, Michel Legeard, Paris buses, Paris1970, Roger Havart, Scilla Gabel, Trigano, Vespasienne
9 Comments
Beer and sandwiches from the Brasserie Dauphine
If the title of this blog rings a bell for you, you must be a fan of the mystery novels of Georges Simenon. When Inspector Maigret holds an interrogation at the Quai des Orfèvres, more often than not he orders … Continue reading
Posted in Paris books, Paris crime, Paris nostalgia
Tagged Canal St-Martin, Georges Simenon, Jules Maigret, Maigret, Place Dauphine, Quai des Orfèvres
35 Comments
Nostalgic images of a vanishing city
Photographs of Paris in the snow were big news earlier this month. We are Canadians. As Gilles Vigneault sang of this country, “Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver” (My country is not a country, it is winter). … Continue reading
Posted in Paris art, Paris nostalgia, Paris popular culture, Paris streets
Tagged commissionnaire, Curiosités de Paris, Edmond Morin, Franco-Prussian War, Grand Café d’Harcourt, Henri Boutet, Le Monde illustré, Neuvaine de Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, Neuvaine de Sainte Geneviève, omnibus, Serge Férat
12 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
Make do and mend
I took my umbrella to Paris in March. It was not that I needed it to keep off the rain. It was so that I could do something with it in Paris I could not do in Canada: get it … Continue reading
Posted in Paris flea markets, Paris markets, Paris nostalgia
Tagged apprenticeship, Atelier Cerami'K, brocante, campagnonnage, guilds, Musée du Compagnonnage, Passage de l’Ancre Royale, Patrimoine Vivant, Pep's, rebus, serrurerie, Sophie Jehan, Thierry Millet, umbrella, vide-grenier, Yves Lapellegerie
23 Comments
The first time I saw Paris
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my father, John Campsie, 9 April 1921 – 8 February 2014. He passed his love of travel on to me and encouraged me to learn French. The first time I saw Paris, … Continue reading
In Search of Lost Time
You don’t really need a wristwatch in Paris. For one thing, you are never far from a clock – on walls, towers, and in front of boutiques. Some are ornate. Some are utilitarian. Some are advertisements. Some are art. Of … Continue reading
Posted in Paris history, Paris nostalgia, Paris postcards, Paris streets
Tagged Adam Roberts, clocks, Georges Cain, Grands Magasins Dufayel, Invisible Paris, les Halles, Louvre, Midnight in Paris, Musée Carnavalet, old postcards, Paris traffic, Petite Ceinture, railway stations, Tuileries Palace, Woody Allen
13 Comments
Missing Christmas in Paris
Everything had been arranged for another Christmas in Paris—plane tickets, flat rental, friends to see—and then we had to cancel. We will spend Christmas in Toronto and will have a good time of it. But what will we miss about … Continue reading
Parisian Fields 