Category Archives: Paris shops

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The domestic front

I was having lunch with my friend Mireille in a pleasant bistro when I became aware of a commotion at the next table. A man with three small children – two girls and a boy. The man was focused on … Continue reading

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A geranium in winter

Finally, after almost four years, we were back in Paris. We stayed in an apartment belonging to a friend of Norman’s, and were greeted with the sight of red geraniums in the window boxes. We were there for Christmas and … Continue reading

Posted in Paris metro, Paris shops | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

Pippa, Pouch, and a Paris Publisher

We don’t usually make a big deal of birthdays. Norman’s falls in late winter just as the academic term is winding up. Philippa’s falls in early summer, just as everyone is going away. This year we were in Paris for … Continue reading

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Going, going, gone

In the 1850s, as the old Paris of narrow streets and ramshackle houses gave way to the broad boulevards and uniform apartment blocks planned by Napoleon III and carried out by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Charles Baudelaire wrote an epitaph for the … Continue reading

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The chariot on the Champs-Elysées

For many people in Paris, owning a car is neither necessary nor desirable. Transit service is good and parking is difficult. But that means that when your groceries include, say, containers of milk or orange juice, bottles of wine or … Continue reading

Posted in Paris food, Paris markets, Paris shops | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Le Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville

Sooner or later, we know, we will end up having lunch at the Cantine in the BHV (Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville). It’s central. It’s inexpensive. The food is good. The view from the big windows is magnificent. And of … Continue reading

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Richard Ewen: A Texas Artist Whose Watercolours Capture Paris

Richard Ewen is a talented watercolour artist who lives in Austin, Texas. He loves Paris, visits it regularly, and then, back in Texas, creates marvellous paintings of Paris, many of which are based on reflections in shop and café windows. … Continue reading

Posted in City of Reflections, Paris art, Paris shops | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments