Tag Archives: Napoleon Bonaparte

The ugliest building in Paris

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Parisian Fields

In the last blog, I mentioned Gabriel Davioud, who is credited with designing some of the classic street furniture of Paris. I wanted to know more about him. That proved to be a challenge. The ordinarily helpful Gallica offered 25 … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris expositions, Paris history | Tagged Aquarium du Trocadéro, Charles Blanc, Charles Percier, Charles-Marie Widor, Exposition Universelle de 1878, Gabriel Davioud, Jacques Carlu, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Jules Bourdais, Jules Simon, Marcel Proust, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon II, Palais de Chaillot, Palais du Roi de Rome, Pierre Fontaine, Trocadéro | 11 Comments

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 lost neighbourhood

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Parisian Fields

Last month, I was inspired by one of Lawren Harris’s paintings to investigate gasometers in Toronto and Paris. A second visit to the Lawren Harris exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario evoked another parallel between the two cities: the destruction … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris history, Paris maps, Paris museums | Tagged Abbé Delagrive, Augustus Charles Pugin, Chateau d’eaux, David Hanser, Eaton Manufacturing Building, Ecuries du Roi, Empress Josephine, Hotel de Crequi, Hotel de Crussol, Hotel de Longueville, Lawren Harris, Machine infernale, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, Quartier du Louvre, Quinze-Vingts, rue de Chartres, rue St-Nicaise, St-Louis-du-Louvre, St-Nicolas-du-Louvre, St-Thomas-du-Louvre, The Ward, Theatre du Vaudeville, Toronto City Hall, Tuileries Palace, Turgot map, Viljo Revell, William James | 14 Comments

Pugin’s Picturesque Paris

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Parisian Fields

For us, no trip to Paris is complete without time browsing through racks, boxes or bins of old engravings of Paris. We find them at antique fairs, flea markets, galleries, book stores and many other places. Quite a few were … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris art, Paris history | Tagged Alexander Books, Andrea Quinlan, Augustus Charles Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, Canal de l’Ourcq, Charles Heath, Fontaine de l’éléphant, Gordon Russell, Henry IV, Jennings and Chaplin, Kate Murdoch, L.T. Ventouillac, Lead shot, Marie de Medici, Napoleon Bonaparte, Paris and its Environs, Place Vendôme, Pont Neuf, Robert Jennings, Taylor-Murdoch-Beatty bookbinders, Toronto International Antiquarian Book Fair, Tour St. Jacques, William Watts | 11 Comments

An honourable education

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Parisian Fields

Every time we plan a trip to Paris, we have a list of things we want to do there. And every time we get to Paris, we end up doing fewer than half of those things. After all, opportunities arise … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris churches, Paris history | Tagged Basilica of St. Denis, Legion of Honour, Madame Campan, Maison de l'Education de la Legion d'Honneur, Napoleon Bonaparte, St-Denis | 11 Comments

The Other Great Nineteenth-Century Tower of Paris

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Parisian Fields

The story begins in a photograph shop in the Village St-Paul. I was browsing among the stereograph cards, when I came across something that looked like this. It captivated me. I say “looked like,” because this is not the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris civic functions, Paris history | Tagged abattoirs, Abattoirs de Grenelle, Abattoirs de Vaugirard, Abattoirs des Invalides, artesian wells, champ de mars, Constant Delaperche, Fontaine du Puits de Grenelle, François Arago, Louis-Georges Mulot, Napoleon Bonaparte, Puits de Grenelle, slaughterhouses, universal exposition | 8 Comments

The Technology of Compassion

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Parisian Fields

I had just finished typing when typewriter collector Martin Howard took the photo below. If you read Braille, you will see that it says “parisian fields.” The Pantheon is the final resting place of France’s heroes: Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Émile … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris history, Paris typewriters | Tagged Braille, Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano, Charles Barbier de la Serre, Coupvray, Frank H. Hall, Hall Braille Writer, Helen Keller, Illinois Institution for the Education of the Blind, Jacques Joseph Emile Badiou de la Tronchère, L’Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, Louis Braille, Martin Howard, Napoleon Bonaparte, New York Point System, Pantheon, Pelligrino Turri, Valentin Haüy | 11 Comments

Food, drink, and lodging in Paris postcards

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Parisian Fields

In a sense, all postcards are a form of advertising. Some advertise the sender’s good fortune or superiority: “Hi. I’m here. You’re not.” Others advertise the attraction itself: Kozy Kabins in Niagara Falls, the highest rotating restaurant west of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris food, Paris hotels, Paris postcards | Tagged Alexandre Legrand, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Arthur Conan Doyle, Benedictine, Benedictine Liqueur, Bishop Maurice de Sully, Boulevard des Italiens, Café Anglais, Camille Pissarro, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, Fécamp, Ferris Wheel, Frédéric Delair, Hotel du Louvre, Hotel Régina, International Exposition of 1900, Julia Child, La Madeleine, La Tour d’Argent, Louvre des Antiquaires, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, Place du Palais Royal, Quai de la Tournelle, Robespierre, Sherlock Holmes, Treaty of Amiens | 12 Comments

A most unusual water system keeps Paris clean

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Parisian Fields

I was alarmed the first time I saw water pouring out of what looked like a sewer grate and onto the road. Now, I watch for such a sight. It is another manifestation of the enlightened engineering, design, and vision … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris streets | Tagged bouches de lavage, Eugène Belgrand, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Marché Port-Royal, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, Ourcq Canal, Paris engineering, Paris sewers, Paris water supply, River Ourcq, rue du Faubourg St Jacques, Street cleaning in Paris, technology of tourism, washing outlets, WOs | 43 Comments

A walk in the snow

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Parisian Fields

No trip to Paris would be complete without at least one lengthy visit to Des Photographies, an intriguing shop in Village St. Paul in the Marais. There, with some help from Sylvain Calvier, I have found and bought some wonderful … Continue reading →