Stories of the streets, railways and buildings of the most beautiful city in the world
A lot has happened on Paris’s transport system this year. In the summer, I took some time to check it all out. Fresh from my visit to the RER E’s western extension – which I wrote about last time – I headed east to explore the latest on metro line 11. Line 11 of the Paris metro opened in 1935 between Châtelet and Porte des Lilas. The latter is on the city’s eastern edge, while Châtelet is right in…
2024 is a big year for transport in Paris. Between April and June, four major extensions opened. I visited some of these in the early summer, and will share my thoughts over the next few articles. In May, RER line E was extended westwards. It was a smaller-scale extension than was initially planned for 2024, and with a very partial service. But the stations themselves are truly spectacular. The…
When a colleague asked me recently to translate the French word rentrée, I struggled. It basically means “back-to-school”, but it’s much wider than that. In a country where three-week summer vacations are the norm, the beginning of September is about more than just school. Paris empties out in August, with many restaurants closing for a month or more. Doctors disappear. Politicians leave their…
When I first began work on this history of the tramways of Île-de-France, I expected it to last for maybe two or three articles. But the chaotic early days of the region’s historic network provided ample material. By part 7, we’d only made it halfway! From the mid-19th century until the network’s closure in the 1930s, dozens of companies had built hundreds of lines using several different…
It’s been a while since I’ve written any new material for Fabric of Paris. That’s largely because I’ve been working on something else. Something I’m very excited to announce here: Fabric of Paris walking tours.
Last month, we spent some time looking at what’s new in transport in Île-de-France. Today, we shift the focus from public to personal transport, to see how walking, cycling and driving have changed in the last year, and how they will continue to evolve in 2024. For many years now, Paris has been working to rebalance the street space we give to cars versus other needs, like walking and cycling.…
As is customary in January, Fabric of Paris is looking back at the previous year, and ahead to the year to come, to see what’s new in the world of transport. Last week, we reported on the new tramways of 2023, the major metro and RER extensions of 2024, and much else besides. But we only briefly touched on an important subject: how we pay for it all. Let’s clear up what can be quite a confusing…
Here at Fabric of Paris, January is an opportunity to look back at the past year’s transport developments and to get excited about what’s in store for the coming year. Last week, we looked at national and international rail services from Paris. But there are lots of interesting things happening in the local transport network. Let’s dive in. Tramways 2023 saw the opening of two brand-new tram lines…
2024 is set to be a big year for Paris. It’s hosting the Olympic Games for the first time in a century – and becoming only the second global city to host them for a third time. It’s also this year that the Notre Dame will reopen, five and a half years after its roof and spire went up in flames. 2023 was no small year either, with Paris most notably hosting many of the key games of the men’s Rugby…
Last year, we began a new seasonal tradition: an annual Paris quiz, with one question for each of the city’s 20 arrondissements. Today, we continue that tradition. Like last year, I’ve gone low-tech, letting you calculate your own score. The answers are at the bottom of the page, but if you prefer to reveal the answer after each question, there are links to help you jump between the sections. I’ve…