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Tag Archives: French Revolution
Asylum
Last month, when I learned that absinthe had been known as the “Charenton omnibus” – Charenton being the site of a famous mental hospital – I became curious about mental institutions in the Paris area. There are many interesting stories … Continue reading
Borders, boundaries, and snails
Toronto has recently completed a Ward Boundary Review, its first since, oh, 2000. City councillors were concerned that some wards had far more voters than others. Population was growing downtown and declining in the inner suburbs. After 17 years, Something … Continue reading
The Nuns’ Tale
A few months ago, I was working at my desk while the radio played in the background. All of a sudden, I heard something extraordinary. I had been vaguely aware of some orchestral music that suggested foreboding and sorrow, but … Continue reading
Posted in Paris history, Paris music
Tagged Canadian Opera Company, Compiegne, Constance of Saint Denis, Dialogues des Carmelites, Francois Poulenc, French Revolution, Georges Bernanos, Gertrud von le Fort, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Madame de Croissy, Madame Lidoine, Martyrs of Compiegne, Paris in the Terror, Place de la Nation, Robert Carsen, Robespierre, Song at the Scaffold, Stanley Loomis, William Bush
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Lighting the City of Light
Opinion is divided on whether the name “City of Light” refers to the brilliant minds of the city’s 18th-century philosophers, or to the brightly illuminated streets of the capital. There are arguments to be made on both sides. If the … Continue reading
Englishwomen abroad
I recently came across two oddly similar stories about Englishwomen in Paris. Both women came to the city to work, both became pregnant with men they met in Paris, both had baby girls while living with these men. But the … Continue reading
Parisian Fields 