Tag Archives: Belleville

The Rise and Fall of the Visual Telegraph

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Parisian Fields

Sometimes we go looking for blog ideas, and sometimes they come along and tap us persistently on the shoulder. This one did – three times. First, I spotted an “advertorial” in a 1912 issue of a small American magazine called … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris history | Tagged Abraham Chappe, Abraham-Louis Bréguet, Belleville, Claude Chappe, Ecouen, François Blanc, Louis Blanc, Napoleon Bonaparte, Père Lachaise, Réné Chappe, rue Chappe, rue de l’Université, Saint-Martin-du-Tertre, semaphore, St-Pierre de Montmartre, St-Sulpice, telegraph, Tom Standage | 14 Comments

The art of the gasometer

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Parisian Fields

The major summer exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario is devoted to the work of Canadian artist Lawren Harris (1885–1970). I associate his name with bold, abstracted images of Canada’s Far North – mountains and glaciers and frozen seas. … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris civic functions, Paris history | Tagged Alfortville, Belleville, Boulogne, Clichy, Compagnie parisienne de l’éclairage et de chauffage par le gaz, Courcelles, gasometer, gazomètre, Grenelle, Ivry, Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, La Presse, La Villette, Maisons Alfort, Passy, Paul Signac, rapeseed oil, Robert Doisneau, rue de l’Evangile, St-Denis, St-Mandé, Ternes, Vaugirard, Vincent van Gogh | 22 Comments

The red balloon

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Parisian Fields

I’d nearly gone right past before I realized what I’d just seen. A balloon, drifting past the chairs and tables of a café in Montmartre. A red balloon. In Paris. I turned around and photographed it, murmuring to a bemused … Continue reading →