The Battle of the Somme
In the summer of 2014, just in time for the centenary of the Great War, a huge black-and-white fresco was installed in a long tunnel in the Métro station Montparnasse-Bienvenüe Read More …
Category: Paris
Orangerie
As the name implies, the Orangerie in Paris was originally built as a greenhouse for growing orange trees. The building is located in one corner of the Tuileries garden next to Read More …
Voiturier
Here’s a tip for all you rich folks who insist on driving your heart-attack machines into the center of Paris. I’m sure you are aware that on-street parking is not Read More …
Boat trip on the Seine
One day I was crossing the Pont Neuf when the sun came out, which was a fairly rare occurrence that week, so I decided that would be a good time Read More …
Au Printemps in Paris
The two department stores Au Printemps and the Galeries Lafayette are both on the same street, Boulevard Haussmann. They are both in large historic buildings with Art Deco cupolas. And Read More …
Galeries Lafayette in Paris
Most of you are too young to remember this, but back in the twentieth century it was customary for department stores to consist of — departments. If you were looking Read More …
Married in the city hall of the 13th
Nowadays, if you say a couple was ‘married in city hall of the 13th’ it just means they both said oui (yes) here in this building on the Place d’Italie. Read More …
The Bièvre River in Paris
If you go snooping around the western half of the 13th arrondissement (and adjoining sections of the 5th) in Paris you will find numerous references to a river called the Read More …
French Army Museum in the Invalides
After my glorious military career of one year, nine months and thirteen days as a draftee in the American Army (including fifty-one weeks in Vietnam), I am not exactly what Read More …
Musée des plans-reliefs
On the top floor of one wing of Les Invalides in Paris there is an unusual museum showing twenty-eight large relief-map models that were made starting in the seventeen century, Read More …