Category Archives: Paris streets

Missing Christmas in Paris

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Parisian Fields

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 →

Posted in Paris nostalgia, Paris shops, Paris streets | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Eyes on the street

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Parisian Fields

One hears a lot about the use of surveillance cameras in England. Indeed, when we returned from Greenwich, I spotted a few lurking in photographs I had taken. Can you spot the camera in the picture below? (There may even … Continue reading →

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Reminders of Paris in Greenwich and London

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Parisian Fields

Ah, Paris! We still love you, and we’re coming back, but you have a rival. Thanks to the generosity of Alison and David, we had the use of a superb flat in Greenwich for a week. And perhaps because we … Continue reading →

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One address, many stories

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Parisian Fields

“What’s that building with the dome, there, on the right?” Norman pointed to a building shown in a stereographic photograph of the Champs-Elysées he had recently bought at an antique photo show. The photo had been taken from the top … Continue reading →

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Propping up Parisian trees

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Parisian Fields

Paris. City of light? Yes. Bridges? Indeed. Trees? Absolutely. The trees and their changing colours are one of the marvels of Paris. But it is no accidental marvel. Parisians work hard at maintaining their trees. Paris abounds in small parks … Continue reading →

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Walking on cast iron in Paris

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Parisian Fields

Every day, hundreds of thousands of feet pound, skip, saunter, or slog across them. Yet very few people stop to look at the cast iron embedded in Paris’s roads and sidewalks. Some pieces are intricately designed; many glisten with the … Continue reading →

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Tracing the tracks of Paris chimneys

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Parisian Fields

As we walk past the restaurant Monsieur Lapin on the rue Raymond Losserand in the 14th, my eyes are drawn upwards to a ladder of iron steps embedded in the wall. We are looking at the other half of a … Continue reading →

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Seduced by the chimneypots of Paris

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Parisian Fields

Many a seduction starts by looking through a window. The allure of chimneypots started to seduce me as I gazed through the generous windows of a rented flat on rue Charlemagne in the Marais. Okay, I liked les mitres de … Continue reading →

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Knock knock

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Parisian Fields

Visits to Paris flats or offices often begin with the ubiquitous buzzer and intercom, or the guarded keypad entry code, followed by the click and release of an electrically operated door lock. Mail goes into small boxes in the lobby. … Continue reading →

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The art of the chasse-roue

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Parisian Fields

Paris often reveals itself in the details. And as a historian of design and technology, I am drawn to the many different ways that the French seem to find for doing the same thing. In this case, protecting the sides … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris streets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments