Exploring Paris one blog at a time
Two summers ago, I participated in a project to photograph our Toronto neighbourhood as it looked in 2024. I chose a stretch of our local commercial street and systematically photographed each shop façade. Then I went around to the laneways Continue reading
I was having lunch with my friend Mireille in a pleasant bistro when I became aware of a commotion at the next table. A man with three small children – two girls and a boy. The man was focused on Continue reading
May is holiday time in France. This year, there were four long weekends in a row (May Day, Victory in Europe (VE) Day, Ascension Day, and Pentecost/Whitsunday), followed by the weekend of the soccer match between Paris St. Germain and Continue reading
In 2022, our friend Patrice, a restoration architect who has contributed several ideas and themes to this blog, contacted us to ask for help in rescuing and restoring a painting in the parish church of Island in Burgundy. We told Continue reading
Let it never be said that archival research is dull. My recent forays into the archives at the Institut national des Jeunes Aveugles uncovered a crime nearly 200 years old, and a con man who exploited a legal loophole to Continue reading
I have recently returned from a 10-day research trip to Paris for a book on Charles Barbier. Over the years, I have pegged away at this project, taking a day here, a day there for research during our visits, but Continue reading
On a blustery January day, two friends and I set out to walk the route of the Bièvre river across the Left Bank. Jill, who lives in Paris, had done most of the walk before and suggested the route. Elizabeth, Continue reading
It’s January 19. Do you know where your New Year’s resolutions are? This year, I decided to go minimalist and easy: look up. You can interpret those words any way you want. Chin up, perhaps, if you’re feeling blue. Or, Continue reading
When our friend Mireille in Paris asked me to research the descendants of Valentin Haüy, the man who pioneered education for blind children, my first reaction was, “Wait – he had children?” I knew about Haüy’s work with blind students. Continue reading
The other night I couldn’t sleep, and to pass the time I got out Norman’s collection of Paris stereocards and looked at the images. After a while, I realized that one thing was missing from nearly every image: the Eiffel Continue reading