Tag Archives: Napoleon III

Zinc

So many sights in Paris pique our curiosity and lead us to learn things we would not have learned otherwise. This blog post began as we thought about the beauty of Paris’s zinc roofs. One could argue that zinc roofs … Continue reading

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

The lost neighbourhood

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Going, going, gone

In the 1850s, as the old Paris of narrow streets and ramshackle houses gave way to the broad boulevards and uniform apartment blocks planned by Napoleon III and carried out by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Charles Baudelaire wrote an epitaph for the … Continue reading

Posted in Paris bookstores, Paris shops | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Death and taxes

Whenever I buy postcards or other pictures of Paris, I gravitate to anything unfamiliar. So when I was leafing through some inexpensive engravings at an antiques fair on the Place St-Sulpice in June, I was immediately drawn to this one. … Continue reading

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris maps | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Buttes Chaumont: The Park for the People

Although it lacks the aristocratic pedigree of some Paris parks, the Parc des Buttes Chaumont in the 19th arrondissement is my favourite. The Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes were formerly royal domains for hunting. But the Buttes … Continue reading

Posted in Paris parks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Baltard’s Children

It is common among Parisians and lovers of Paris to bewail the loss of the nineteenth-century market buildings at Les Halles. Those pavilions of iron, wood and glass designed by Victor Baltard stood in the heart of the city from … Continue reading

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris markets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Le Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville

Sooner or later, we know, we will end up having lunch at the Cantine in the BHV (Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville). It’s central. It’s inexpensive. The food is good. The view from the big windows is magnificent. And of … Continue reading

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris shops | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Food, drink, and lodging in Paris postcards

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

A most unusual water system keeps Paris clean

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

A closer look at Parisian streets

Over the past week, I have been pondering a comment made by Adam Roberts, the author of Invisible Paris (one of our favourite blogs), about our post on courtyards. He confessed to having mixed feelings about these interior spaces and … Continue reading

Posted in Paris architecture, Paris history, Paris streets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments