Category Archives: Paris streets

Hidden rivers, white queens, and squaring the triangle

On a blustery January day, two friends and I set out to walk the route of the Bièvre river across the Left Bank. Jill, who lives in Paris, had done most of the walk before and suggested the route. Elizabeth, … Continue reading

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Look up

It’s January 19. Do you know where your New Year’s resolutions are? This year, I decided to go minimalist and easy: look up. You can interpret those words any way you want. Chin up, perhaps, if you’re feeling blue. Or, … Continue reading

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Double vision

The other night I couldn’t sleep, and to pass the time I got out Norman’s collection of Paris stereocards and looked at the images. After a while, I realized that one thing was missing from nearly every image: the Eiffel … Continue reading

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Silent witnesses

Early one morning, Norman and I dropped off our car for servicing at a local garage. We had breakfast at the Goat Café and then took a walk for an hour or so until it was time to retrieve the … Continue reading

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Astérix and the lost streets of Montparnasse

I am a latecomer to the adventures of Astérix, the hero of more than 30 bandes dessinés – comics, or perhaps “comix” à la René Goscinny, the creator of Astérix and all those other “x” characters. There’s Obélix, the pigtailed … Continue reading

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Up Stairs. Down Stairs.

One of our favourite walks starts close to the apartment we often rent that overlooks the Boulevard de Port Royal. It begins when you go through a hole in the sidewalk and down a set of stairs. Just west of … Continue reading

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Napoleon slept here

I don’t remember where I bought the postcard, although the price on the back shows that I lashed out a whopping 5 euros on it. It shows an undistinguished shopfront covered in advertising. It must have been the caption that … Continue reading

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Edward Hopper in Paris

Norman and I were browsing in a second-hand bookshop recently, when I came across a book about the American artist Edward Hopper that included this illustration: The caption read, “Stairway at 48, rue de Lille, Paris, 1906.” I shouldn’t have … Continue reading

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Paris Camino, part two

Here we are at the intersection of the rue St-Jacques and the boulevard Port-Royal (aka Carrefour de la Mort – our name for it; you won’t see it on the walls!), heading south. Once you have crossed the tricky intersection, … Continue reading

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Paris Camino

Paris is a city for walking – for tourists, for flâneurs, and also for pilgrims. For some, it is the conclusion of a pilgrimage. On the rue du Bac, you will see pilgrims from many countries entering the courtyard of … Continue reading

Posted in Charles Barbier, Paris churches, Paris history, Paris hospitals, Paris streets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments